Su  s  piciOTTS  ETTSBA-NU  , 


JOHN  BERNARD  AS  JACK  MEGGOT. 


INTRODUCTION. 


JOHN  BERNARD,  one  of  the  brightest  of  English  come 
dians,  and  one  of  the  earliest  of  American  managers,  was 
an  important  figure  on  the  stage  of  the  United  States  in 
the  beginning  of  this  century.  He  was  born  in  Ports 
mouth,  England,  in  1756.  His  father  was  a  naval  officer, 
and  a  relative  of  Sir  Francis  Bernard,  a  British  governor 
of  Massachusetts,  who  was  so  unpopular  In  that  colony 
that  when  he  was  recalled,  in  17C9,  Boston  celebrated  his 
departure  by  salvos  of  artillery  and  general  demonstrations 
of  public  joy.  John  Bernard  was  educated  at  Chichester, 
where  he  acted  Hamlet  in  a  school  performance  of  the 
tragedy  before  he  was  sixteen.  He  shortly  after  appeared 
on  the  professional  stage  at  the  village  of  Farnham,  near 
Portsmouth,  in  the  character  of  George  Barnwell.  His 
father's  return  from  sea  at  this  time  put  a  stop  to  the 
young  actor's  brief  experience,  and  led  to  his  being  articled 
to  a  solicitor,  with  whom,  however,  he  could  not  have  re 
mained  long,  as  in  1773  he  began  a  professional  career 
destined  to  last  with  honor,  if  not  with  profit,  for  half  a 
century. 

He  was  a  member  of  a  strolling  troupe  for  a  short  time, 
but  soon  gained  admittance  into  the  regular  company 
which  served  the  Norwich  circuit.  Here  he  met  Mrs. 
Cooper,  an  actress  of  great  versatility,  whom  he  described 
as  "a  kind  of  Garrick  in  petticoats,"  and  whom  ho  married 
in  1774.  In  the  winter  of  1777-8  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bernard 


iv  INTRODUCTION. 

joined  the  company  at  the  Bath  Theatre,  then  the  most 
important  in  England  outside  of  the  metropolis.  There 
they  made  their  first  appearance  as  Gratiano  and  Portia, 
to  the  Shylock  of  Henderson.  There  they  played  Sir  Ben 
jamin  Backbite  and  Mrs.  Candor,  in  the  first  perform 
ance  of  the  "  School  for  Scandal "  out  of  London,  the  re 
hearsals  of  which  were  superintended  by  Sheridan  him 
self.  From  1780  until  1784  Bernard  acted  in  Ireland., 
where  he  was  associated  with  such  stage  giants  as  Miss 
O'Neill  and  John  Kemble.  On  Oct.  19,  1787,  Bernard 
made  his  first  appearance  in  London  and  at  the  Covent 
Garden  Theatre,  play  ing  Archer  in  the  "Beaux'  Stratagem," 
Mrs.  Bernard  taking  the  part  of  Mrs.  Sullen.  In  London 
Bernard  made  many  friends;  his  associates  were  Sheridan, 
Selwyn,  Fox,  and  the  leading  wits  and  men  about  town; 
and  in  1789  he  was  elected  secretary  of  the  famous  Beef 
steak  Club,  an  honor  of  which  he  was  always  very  proud. 
His  first  wife  having  died,  he  married,  in  1795,  a  Miss 
Fisher,  who  had  a  short  and  unimportant  career  on  the 
stage,  dying  ten  years  later  in  America,  to  which  country 
she  accompanied  him  in  the  summer  of  1797.  His  en 
gagement  was  with  Wignell,  the  Philadelphia  manager, 
at  a  salary  of  a  thousand  pounds  a  twelvemonth,  at  that 
time  an  unusually  large  amount;  and  he  made  his  first 
American  appearance  on  Aug.  25,  1797,  at  the  Greenwich 
Street  Theatre,  New  York,  as  Goldfinch  in  the  "Road  to 
Ruin,"  the  elder  Warren  playing  Old  Dornton.  During 
the  six  years  Bernard  spent  in  Philadelphia  he  played, 
besides  the  comedy  parts  for  which  he  was  engaged,  Shy- 
lock,  Falconbridge,  Hotspur,  and  others,  in  the  absence  of 
a  leading  tragedian  in  the  company.  He  went  to  Boston 
in  1803,  where,  in  1806,  he  became  joint  manager,  with 
Powers,  of  the  Federal  Street  Theatre,  and  sailed  for  Eng 
land  in  search  of  new  attractions  for  his  company.  With 
a  third  wife,  a  Miss  Wright,  whom  he  married  in  St. 


INTRODUCTION.  v 

James's  Church,  Piccadilly,  he  returned  to  Boston  the 
same  year,  and  remained  there  at  the  head  of  affairs  in 
the  Federal  Street  house  until  1810.  After  professional 
tours  in  Canada,  he  acted  in  the  Thespian  Hall  at  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  and  opened  on  Jan.  18,  1813,  the  first  regular  the 
atre — that  on  Green  Street — which  Albany  possessed.  In 
1816  he  went  upon  a  tour  through  the  United  States,  be 
ing  one  of  the  earliest  moving  stars  in  the  American  the 
atrical  firmament.  In  the  autumn  of  1817  he  returned  to 
the  stock  company  of  the  theatre  in  Boston,  and  took  his 
farewell  of  the  American  stage  in  the  "  Soldier's  Daugh 
ter,"  April  19,  1819,  delivering  a  farewell  address — and 
going  home  to  England  as  heartily  liked  and  as  sincerely 
regretted  as  his  colonial  relative  of  half  a  century  before 
was  hooted  and  despised.  He  died  in  London,  Nov.  29, 
1828. 

John  Bernard  was  much  more  than  a  comedian  of  re 
markable  brilliancy;  he  was  a^  shrewd  ^ocjial  observer, 
ojiick:  to  see,  and  acute  in  noting  the  value  of  what  he 
saw.  He  came  to  America  admirably  equipped  as  a  stu 
dent  of  men  and  manners  ;  and  he  brought  with  him 
what  is  not  often  to  be  found  in  the  personal  baggage 
of  the  British  tourist  in  the  United  States — an  extraor 
dinary  openness  of  mind.  There  is  in  his  record  of  his  life 
here  in  America  scarcely  a  trace  of  what  Mr.  Lowell  calls 
that  certain  condescension  of  the  foreigner.  His  bias,  in 
so  far  as  he  had  any,  was  in  favor  of  the  new  country  and 
the  young  nation.  This  bias,  perhaps,  may  have  been  due 
to  his  intimate  association  with  Fox  and  Sheridan  and 
the  other  Whigs  of  the  Beefsteak  Club.  He  had  unusual 
opportunities  for  the  study  of  American  habits  in  town 
and  in  country,  and  of  these  he  availed  himself  to  the  ut 
most.  He  was  brought  into  contact  with  many  of  the 
distinguished  sons  of  the  Republic  in  his  day — Washing 
ton,  Jefferson,  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton — on  terms  of 


vi  INTRODUCTION. 

friendship  if  not  of  intimacy,  and  his  record  of  the  impres 
sions  they  made  upon  him  is  vivid  and  valuable.  He  was 
as  ready  a  writer  as  he  was  a  keen  observer.  He  told  an 
anecdote  lightly  and  brightly,  and  with  a  charm  peculiar 
to  the  men  of  his  profession.  He  had  caught  from  the 
Eighteenth-Century  comedies,  in  which  he  so  often  acted, 
a  certain  sparkle  and  an  easy  wit,  which  play  pleasantly 
along  his  page. 

On  his  retirement  from  the  stage  and  return  to  England, 
Bernard  began  the  preparation  of  his  biography;  and 
about  a  year  before  his  death  he  completed  the  work, 
"  but,"  as  his  son  tells  us,  "  in  too  voluminous  a  state  for 
publication."  His  son  was  the  late  W.  Bayle  Bernard, 
who  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  in  1808,  and  died  in  Lon 
don,  England,  in  1875.  He  began  life  as  an  actor,  but 
soon  turned  critic  and  dramatist,  and  was  the  author  of 
the  "Nervous  Man,"  the  "Dumb  Belle,"  and  "His  Lost 
Legs."  For  Hackett  he  wrote  the  earliest  drama  of  "  Rip 
Van  Winkle,"  and  for  Yankee  Hill,  Silsbee,  and  other 
American  character  actors,  he  wrote  many  other  plays 
which  entitle  him  to  be  considered  one  of  the  inventors  of 
the  Stage  Yankee. 

After  John  Bernard's  death,  in  1828,  Bayle  Bernard 
selected  and  condensed  from  his  father's  autobiography 
the  interesting  "  Retrospections  of  the  Stage,  by  the  Late 
John  Bernard,  Manager  of  the  American  Theatres,  and 
formerly  Secretary  of  the  Beefsteak  Club.  2  vols.  Lon 
don,  Henry  Colburn  and  Richard  Bentley,  1830."  This 
work  met  with  great  and  instant  success,  and  is  still  high 
ly  prized  by  all  collectors  of  theatrical  literature  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic.  It  was  republished  by  Carter  & 
Hendee,  in  Boston,  in  1832,  but  both  editions  have  been 
long  out  of  print. 

The  "  Retrospections  of  the  Stage  "  come  down  only  to 
the  date  of  Bernard's  leaving  England  for  America.  From 


INTRODUCTION.  vii 

those  pages  of  his  father's  manuscript  memoirs  which 
were  descriptive  of  his  life  and  experiences  in  the  United 
States,  Bayle  Bernard  made  at  different  times  three  differ 
ent  sets  of  extracts,  all  taken  literally  from  the  autobiog 
raphy,  and  exact,  so  far  as  they  went,  but  all  incomplete. 
The  first  ten  chapters  of  the  following  book  are  printed 
from  a  manuscript  found  among  her  husband's  papers  by 
the  widow  of  Bayle  Bernard,  and  by  her  prepared  for 
publication. 

From  the  original  autobiography  of  the  elder  Bernard 
— now  apparently  lost  or  destroyed — the  son  had  previous 
ly  condensed  material  for  six  chapters  of  "Early  Days  of 
the  American  Stage,"  published  in  Tallis's  Dramatic  Mag 
azine,  in  1850-51.  A  few  of  the  more  pertinent  passages 
of  these  six  chapters  will  be  found  as  the  eleventh  chapter 
of  the  present  book.  The  concluding  four  chapters  are 
from  a  second  manuscript,  since  discovered  by  Mrs.  Bayle 
Bernard,  three  chapters  of  which  were  published,  in  1884, 
in  the  Manhattan  Magazine^  with  notes  by  us. 

We  have  made  no  effort  to  correct  Bernard's  occasional 
and  trivial  mistakes  in  American  history  and  topography, 
nor  have  we  endeavored  to  annotate  the  text  generally, 
but  we  have  appended  notes  on  the  early  American  actors 
and  actresses  whose  names  may  not  be  familiar  to  the 
general  reader,  and  of  whose  careers  little  is  known  even 
by  students  of  the  stage.  Of  course  we  are  not  respon 
sible  for  the  abrupt  ending  of  the  manuscript. 

LAUEENCE  HUTTON, 

B BANDER  MATTHEWS. 

NEW  YORK,  1886. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Progress  of  Society  in  America Page  1 

CHAPTER  II.1" 

1797. — Boston  and  New  England. — Reasons  for  Emigration. — Exercise  on 
Board ;  Attack  by  Pirates. — ^Reception  at  Boston. — Hodgkinson ;  an 
Improvised  Tragedy. — Boston's  Resemblance  to  Old  England. — Why 
New  England  Goes  Ahead ;  its  Method  of  Progress ;  not  Understood 
by  the  English. — The  N>w  England  Stage ;  its  Driver. — Roads. — Mos 
quitoes  Promote  Patriotism. — The  Yankees;  the  Swapper;  the  Jobber; 
the  Pedlcr. — Anecdotes  of  Yankee  Cuteness. — New  England  Seamen ; 
a  Profitable  Cargo 23 

CHAPTER  III. 

1797. — New  York. — Robert  Merry. —  My  First  Appearance  and  Illness; 
Rustication  and  Cure. — Aspect  of  New  York ;  the  Dutch ;  the  Break- 
_fast-tablc  ;  Merchants'  Daily  Life ;  Double  Disguises ;  the  Biters  Bit ; 
Land  Speculators. — Sport. — Anecdotes  of  the  Revolutionary  War ;  Sir 
W.  Howe  and  Mrs.  Loring ;  Lord  Cornwallis  and  his  Friend. — Journey 
to  Philadelphia ;  a  Narrow  Escape 49 

CHAPTER  IV.  v 

1797-8. — Philadelphia;  Babylon  its  Prototype. — Quakers. — Traditions  of 
Penn. — Philadclphian  Society. — Street-washing. — Sir  John  Oldmixon. 
— Introduction  of  Quadrille. — Discovery  of  a  Portrait  of  Quin. — Cac. 
scrib.,  the  Philadelphian  Epidemic. — My  Partnership  Play.  —  Merry's 
Prophetic  Pun. — Fenneli,  his  Eccentricities  and  Career. — Sanguinary  * 
Expedient  in  Macbeth.  —  Dr.  Franklin,  his  Influence. — Opposition  to 
"Bustles." — An  Explanatory  Note. — Best  Souvenir  of  a  Lady.  —  A 

Great  Calf.— A  Model  Foot 63 

A* 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

1798. — Annapolis. — Society  in  Maryland. — Mr.  Carroll. — Adventure  with 
General  Washington;  Establishing  the  Independence  of  a  Chaise; 
Washington's  Appearance ;  his  Conversation ;  Observations  on  New 
and  Old  England,  on  Slavery,  the  Abbe  Raynal,  the  Prince  of  Wales, 

/~+a.ud  the  Drama  ;  his  One  Jest. — Notices  of  the  Military  Heroes  of  the 
Revolution. — The  Qualifications  most  Needed. — Charles  Lee,  the  Second 
in  Command ;  his  Character  and  Career ;  Supposed  to  be  Junius ;  his 
Taking  "Five  Friends  "  to  the  Play ;  Reply  to  an  Old  Maid  ;  Value  of 
a  Sword ;  his  Death. — Green,  the  "  Fighting  Quaker." — Colonel  Tarle- 
ton's  Joke. — Gates,  the  Old  English  Gentleman;  his  Repartee. — Arnold, 
the  "Political  Judas;"  his  Career  and  End;  a  Negro  Sarcasm;  his 
Promised  Funeral. — Lafayette  Compared  with  Washington ;  his  Reply 
to  a  Royalist. — Baron  von  Steuben ;  his  Poverty;  New  Use  for  a 
Sabre.  —  "  Old  Israel "  Putnam  ;  the  Modern  Cincinnatus ;  his  Wolf 
Adventure;  his  Daring  in  War;  his  Jokes. — Lord  Stirling;  his  For 
mality  ;  Sayings  to  his  Men ;  a  Private's  Retort ;  Early  Rising. — Ethan 
Allen,  the  "  Rhode  Island  Oracle ;"  his  Strange  Character ;  his  Sim 
plicity. — Kosciusko's  Declaration Page  84 

CHAPTER  VI. 

1798. — Trip  to  the  Delaware. — A  Serenade. — A  Boat  Adrift. — Five  Foreign 
Ambassadors. — Baltimore. — Madame  Jerome  Bonaparte  and  the  Mar 
chioness  of  Wellesley. — Political  Discords  and  Fatal  Harmonies. — Elec 
tions. — Merry's  Joke ;  Rival  Candidates. — A  Petticoaterie. — Negroes  as* 
Humorists ;  Happiness  in  Bondage ;  Theory  of  the  Origin  and  End  of 
Evil;  Sambotius  Quamina ;  the  Burnt  Fly;  a  Planter's  Destiny ;  Fault 
in  the  Solar  System ;  a  Pilot's  Reply ;  Significant  "  Hem"  ;  Sleeping  Un 
consciousness  ;  Negro  Names  ;  Hen  and  Egg ;  Three-fingered  Jack. — 
Merryland  and  Merrylanders. — Lord  Baltimore:  Letter  to  the  Swedes; 
Reply  to  an  Indian. — Dr.  Franklin  on  the  Origin  of  Tobacco. — General 
Washington  and  the  Dwarf. — Death  of  Merry;  Omens;  Epitaph.  116 

CHAPTER  VII. 

1799. — Life  in  Virginia;  a  Word  for  the  Planters;  the  War  a  Moral  Re 
generator  ;  ^Manners,  Tastes,  and  the  Ladies. — A  Planter's  Life  before 
the  War;  Stratagems  to  Obtain  Cm^mons ;  Ordinaries. — Public  Di 
versions:  Racing  at  Williamsburgh ;  Quarter-racing;  Hunting  in  Vir 
ginia;  an  Adventure. — Native  Traditions:  Captain  Smith;  his  Disci 
pline;  his  Replies;  Pocahontas  in  England;  an  Indian  Taking  the 


CONTENTS.  xi 

Census. — Convicts  in  Virginia. — Dr.  Franklin's  Present  to  Sir  Robert 
"VValpole.  —  A  Humorous  Criminal ;  Conviction  and  Conversion.  —  A 
Governor's  Speech  in  1670. — Lecturing  Excursion.— Cooper  the  Tra 
gedian  ;  his  Courage. — Virginia  Travelling. — Gallinippers  and  Mosqui 
toes.— Patriot  Pigs. — Blacksmith's  Cure  for  Insanity. — General  Lee 
and  the  Quakers.  —  A  Madagascar  Monster.  —  Tradition  of  "  Black- 
beard's  "  Skull Page  146* 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

1800-1. — Tour  to  the  Ohio;  Passage  of  the  Potomac;  the  Alleghany 
Hills ;  Three  Kinds  of  Settlers,  Squatters,  Utopians,  and  New  England 
Farmers. — Backwoodsmen ;  Shooting  Exploits. — Pittsburgh  Smoke. — 
Indian  Wooing-hut  and  Honeymoon. — The  Ohio. — The  Aborigines  of 
America.  —  Indian  Antiquities. — Welsh  in  America.  —  The  Island  of 
Blennerhasset ;  Art  and  Nature.  —  Philadelphia  Balls ;  Travellers' 
Tales.— American  Beefsteaji  Club. — A  Coincidence. — The  Quaker  and 
the  Irishman.— Desdemona's  Revival. —  St.  George's  Society — Tubbs 
,  the  Tragedian  and  his  Adventure.  —  Poetry  and  Matter-of-fact;  the 
Last  Creditor. — A  French  Bankrupt. —  American  Advertisements  and 
Literal  Mistakes.  —  Black  Nurses  and  the  Yellow  Fever;  a  Colored 
Lady. — Fennel's  Immortality. — My  Aversion  and  Adventure  ;  a  Female 
Falstaff. — Peel's  Museum. — Historical  Anecdote 176 

CHAPTER  IX. 

1800-1. — The  Carolinas.— Journey  to  Charleston;  a  Carolina  Ordinary. — 
Social  Characteristics. — Deer-killing ;  a  Dead  Shot. — A  Planters'  Ball ; 
the  "Caroliny  Jig." — Stories  of  the  Swamps;  the  Spectre  Troop,  etc.— 
Legal  Latin. — Colonel  Tarleton  and  Major  Hanger ;  Pranks  among  the 
Planters. — Baron  de  Glaubeck's  Troop  and  Title. — Anecdote  of  the 
Irish  Brigade.  —  Charleston  Society  ;  Varieties  of  Color.  —  The  Ugly 
Club  ;  its  Rules  ;  TTrdeaT  of  a  Member. — Carolina  Dews. — Fishing  and 
Bites;  Scene  with  a  Snake;  a  Lively  Hut. — Alligators;  the  River 
Lawyer ;  a  Civilized  Specimen. — Samples  of  Black  Humor ;  the  Crim 
inal  a  Judge. — Byrne's  Visit  to  Jamaica ;  his  Retreat 202 

CHAPTER  X. 

1801-3. — Recollections  of  President  Jefferson;  his  Observations  in  France; 
Neckar  and  Mirabeau ;  the  Comte  de  Artois  ;  Marie  Antoinette;  Jeffer 
son's  Compliments;  his  Rencontre  with  a  Connecticut  Farmer;  Parallel 
with  John  Adams. — Peculiarities  of  Pennsylvania ;  Contrast  to  Vir 
ginia. — German  Settlers  ;  the  Veteran  Corps  ;  a  Female  Recruit ;  Gas- 


xii  CONTENTS. 

tronomic  Hessians. — Barbecuing  and  Bundling. — Marrying  in  Haste. 
—  Periodical  Whitewashings. — A  "  Pennsylvany  Hurricane." — Recol 
lections  of  Charles  Brockden  Brown ;    his  Writings ;   his  Character ; 
*"  his  Drama  and  its  Fate Page  232 

**/ 
CHAPTER  XI. 

Celebrities  of  the  American  Stage :  Mrs.  Whitelock ;  Miss  Fontenelle ; 
Hodgkinson;  Wignell. — TJieTheatres  and  Yellow  Fever. — American 
Circuits. — Position  of  the  AcJajLJa  Amejjca.— ^MTs.  Merry. — Mrs.  Mal- 
.moth. — Fennell. — Cooper. — "  A  Histrionic  Academy  " 250 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Undertaking  Management. — Supplies  Needed. — Visit  to  England. — Irish 
Fishermen.  —  Proposals  and  Refusals. — Final  Engagements. — Monk 
Lewis's  Irish  Friend. — Caulfield. — Transport  Arrangements. — A  Bath 
Greeting.  —  The  Theatrical  Fund. — Story  of  a  Landlord's  Retort. — 
Whiteley  and  Macklin. — Bowles's  Hoax.  —  Rolling  in  Riches. — A 
Frozen  Sheep. — A  Russian  Tool. — Tragedy  of  an  Actor's  Life. — Mr. 
Williams. — Marriage. — Departure. — A  Friendly  Foe. — Voyage. — Ar 
rival  in  Boston 272 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

1806. — Boston. — Mrs.  Stanley;  Compared  with  Mrs.  Abingdon  and  Miss 
Farren. — Admiration. —  Caulfield. —  General  Humphrey's  Authorship. 
— "Romeo  and  Juliet"  in  the  Backwoods. — A  Long  Song. — Mrs.  Jones's 
Death.— Dr.  Jeffrey's  Youthful  Flight.— Caulfield's  Singing.— An  Ac 
tor's  Temptation. — New  Version  of  Lord  Hasting's  Speech. — Powell. — 
Fcnnell's  Salt-works. — A  Sermon  on  Patience. — Poe  and  Shaw. — Col 
ored  People. — Rival  Musicians. — Mr.  Williams. — A  Lecturing  Tour.— 
Tragedy  of  Real  Life. — Sally  Weeks. — Meeting  the  Devil. — A  Military 
Money-taker. — Curious  "Wiscasset"  Natives. — 1807. — Mr.  Cromwell. 
— A  Theatrical  Impostor. — Jack  Hatton  the  Great  Blackguard. — Snow 
storm  at  Sea. — A  Visit  to  Philadelphia  and  New  York.— Serious  Ill 
ness. — Acting  Under  Difficulties. — A  Cool  Duellist. — Captain  Dorgan. 
— Serious  Losses 284 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Excursion  to  Vermont. — Concord  and  Discord. — Monsieur  Mallet. — State 
Characteristics. — Milestones  and  Finger-posts  ;  an  Irish  Finger-post. 
— Burlington.— A  Vermont  Farmer ;  his  Dinner  and  Conversation. — A 
Musician. — A  Medical  Innkeeper;  his  One  Story. — Saratoga  Springs. 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

— Sail  up  the  Hudson. — New  Engagements. — General  Humphreys  and 
Humphreysville. — Connecticut  Laws. — A  Silent  Town. — Profiting  by  a 
Fine. — Return  to  Boston. — 1808  Season.— Stirring  in  a  Matter. — "The 
Pilgrims."  —  General  Theatrical  Depression.  —  The  Indian  and  the 
African. — Love  and  Liquor. — The  Three  Warnings. — The  Two  John 
Gilpins. — 1809. — Boston. — Failure  and  Disappointment. — A  New  Come- 
dy;  its  Prologue. — Barrett's  Last  Act. — Graduated  Ingenuity. — Yankee 
Anecdotes. — Borrowing  a  Horse. — Buying  Brandy.  —  Stars. — "The 

Forty  Thieves." — Contemplated  Changes Page  317 

C^ 
CHAPTER  XV. 

Visit  to  Canada. — Anticipations. —  A  Retired  Actress. — Vermont  Travel 
ling. — Wit  and  Humor.— Mixed  Society. — Whitehall  Table  Fray. — 
Democrat's  Estimate  of  Titles. — Steamboat  Pleasures  and  Terrors. — A 
Canadian  Vehicle. — Swamp  Stories. — Driver's  Test  of  Danger. — View 
of  Montreal. — The  Theatre. — Actors'  Rivalries. — An  Indian  Settlement. 
— Off  to  Quebec. — A  Canadian  Cottager. — General  Sheaf. — Universal 
Music. — A  Forger's  School. — A  Bateau  Party. — A  Lone  House  and  its 
Mistress ;  Unexpected  Company  and  Unwelcome  Revelry. — Reception 
at  Quebec.— New  Theatres  Proposed. — Amateurs  vs.  Professionals. — 
Last  Season  atT  Bostoiv^Native  Dramatists. — Tom  Moore's  Sister-in- 
law.—  "Femme  Propose."— George  Frederick  Cooke.— Heroes  and  Vil- 
lians. — Mossop. — Macklin  and  Cooke  compared. — Macklin  and  his 
Scotch  Schoolmaster.— Cooke's  Generosity  and  Eccentricity.— Kernble's 
Portrait. — An  Intrusive  Fiddler  and  his  Punishment 345 

INDEX..  .  375 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


JOHN  BERNARD  AS  JACK  MEGGOT Frontispiece. 

JAMES  FENNELL To  face  page    74 

THOMAS  ABTIIORP  COOPER "        "      1C4 

THE  HON.  MRS.  TWISLETON  (AFTERWARDS  MRS. 

STANLEY) «        «<      276 

MRS.  STANLEY «        «      284 

MR.  CAULFIELD "        «      286 

BOSTON  THEATRE,  FEDERAL  STREET "        "      292 

ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE,  JR "        <<      300 

MR.  DARLEY  AS  PERFORMING  IN  THE  ORCHES 
TRA  AT  VAUXIIALL "        "      332 

JOHN  HOWARD  PAYNE  AS  YOUNG  NORVAL    .    .        "        (<      340 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 


CHAPTER  I. 
PROGRESS  OF  SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA. 

THE  European  who  has  visited  America  must  admit  that 
it  gave  him  an  impression  perfectly  original,  however  wide 
had  been  his  intercourse  with  other  countries.  It  was  not 
that  he  saw  creation  on  a  scale  of  magnitude — in  India  he 
had  marvelled  at  "  heaven-propping  "  hills,  and  a  sea-like 
rush  of  rivers — but  that  the  idea  of  the  physical  sublime 
was  merged  in  that  of  the  spiritual.  He  perceived  an  en 
lightened  people  subduing  a  giant  continent  to  a  giant 
scheme  of  civilization.  The  poising  of  the  powers  of  mind 
and  matter  was  the  novelty;  the  bringing  into  such  strik 
ing  juxtaposition  the  birth  and  maturity  of  creation.  This 
I  will  not  dwell  upon.  But  the  visitor  must  also  have  re 
marked  the  various  shades  of  character  which  even  now 
mark  the  limits  ot  the  primitive  divisions  of  the  United 
States,  though  daily  growing  less  distinct  in  the  spread  of 
intelligence.  It  has  often  struck  me  that  an  inquiry  into 
these  decaying  records  wrould  involve  an  explanation  of 
many  anomalies  in  the  past  as  well  as  present  aspect  of 
the  country,  and  I  therefore  beg  leave  to  preface  the  fol 
lowing  chapters  of  my  Retrospections  with  a  brief  sketch 
of  the  settlement  and  progress  of  society  in  America.  At 
her  first  colonization  she  was  peopled  on  the  one  hand 
by  exiles  who  fled  to  worship  God  in  freedom,  and  on  the 
other  by  adventurers  who  only  worshipped  Mammon.  On 

1 


2  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

the  emigration  of  Lord  Baltimore  and  his  friends  to  Mary 
land,  and  under  the  succeeding  period  of  the  Protectorate, 
America  presented  the  singular  appearance  of  a  refuge  for 
the  three  parties  which  had  successively  swayed  the  des 
tinies  of  England,  and  overthrown  each  other.     The  Puri 
tans  were  quietly  established  in  New  England;  the  Cath 
olics  were  safely  housed  in  Maryland;  and  Virginia,  the 
depot  of  commerce,  became  the  refuge  of  all  fugitive  roy 
alists  and  Church  people.      Meanwhile  the  Swedes  had 
lighted  upon  the  Delaware,  and  the  Dutch  upon  the  Hud 
son.    The  return  of  Charles  II.,  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  and 
the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  sent  forth  fresh 
supplies  and  settlements.     A  colony  of  Huguenots  and 
miscellaneous  English  broke  ground  in  Carolina;  Swiss 
and  Palatines  poured  into  New  York  and  New  Jersey; 
while   the   truly  Christian  institutions  of  Pennsylvania 
proved  a  magnet  yearly  to  the  Lutherans  of  Germany. 
The  colonial  governments  had  by  this  time  settled  into 
three  kinds:   Charter,  Royal,  and  Proprietory;  the  first, 
in  New  England,  where  the  right  of  making  laws  and  of 
electing  officers  was  ceded  to  the  people;  the  second,  in 
New  York  and  Virginia,  where  the  crown  had  the  appoint 
ment  of  the  governor  and  council,  and  also  a  veto  on  the 
acts  of  the  assembly;  and  the  third,  in  all  the  rest,  where 
the  powers  of  the  king  were  transferred  to  the  proprietors. 
It  was  thus  that  in  sixty  years  from  its  settlement  we 
see  spread  together  on  the  continent,  Puritans,  Quakers, 
Catholics,  and  Church-people,  English,  French,  Swedes, 
Swiss,  Dutch,  and  Germans,  under  the  antagonistic  influ 
ences  of  monarchic  and  democratic  rule.     The  question 
now  is,  how  were  these  diversities  affected  by  their  institu 
tions? 

The  first  population  of  Virginia  was  perhaps  the  most 
miscellaneous.  Their  allurement  had  been  gold.  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  was  not  a  solitary  dreamer  with  regard 


PROGRESS  OF   SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA.  3 

to  the  hidden  riches  of  the  northern  continent,  for  his  expe 
ditions  to  Virginia,  his  writings,  and  his  waste  of  wealth  to 
prove  that  the  soil  of  the  country  concealed  a  power  which 
might  raise  England  to  a  rivalry  with  Spain,  inoculated  no 
small  number  of  believers;  and  a  frenzied  eagerness  to 
realize  his  wonders  hurried  out  some  few  honest-minded 
upon  the  same  frail  plank  with  the  many  reckless  and  de 
bauched,  the  spendthrift  and  the  gambler,  who  thought 
to  repair  their  broken  fortunes  by  one  stroke  of  their 
heavy-heeled  boots  upon  the  earth,  which  could  thus  be 
made  to  disclose  their  yellow  idol,  like  a  burst  of  sunshine 
through  a  broken  shutter.  The  dreams  of  these  first 
treasure-seekers  were  soon  dispelled,  and  such  of  them  as 
did  not  die  of  disappointment,  or  the  unexpected  toils  and 
evils  of  a  swampy  country,  turned  their  attention  to  extract 
ing  gold  from  rice  and  tobacco.  For  such  men  it  is  obvi 
ous  that  some  strict  discipline  was  needed  to  correct  their 
greed  of  mammon  and  their  laxity  of  morals.  How  far 
was  this  afforded  them? 

James  I.  in  enrolling  the  Established  Church  among 
the  provisions  of  the  Virginia  Charter,  with  so  marked  a 
silence  on  the  subject  of  established  education,  was  but 
extending  the  intolerance  he  was  so  liberally  dealing  out 
at  home.  Pedantic  and  shallow  as  he  was,  it  cannot  be 
conceived  he  was  ignorant  of  the  necessity  for  education 
in  a  wild,  warm,  and  luxurious  country  which  offered  every 
temptation  to  disorder  and  immorality.  We  must  sup 
pose  that  he  held  the  church  to  be  in  itself  a  sufficient 
means  of  instruction,  or  the  best  organizer  of  any  supple 
mentary  one.  But  a  school  is  as  important  to  a  country 
as  a  church.  Upon  points  of  doctrine  sects  will  differ, 
but  there  can  be  no  dispute  with  regard  to  practical  mor 
als,  and  to  expect  that  grown  people  who  have  never  been 
instructed  in  these  when  young,  will  either  obey  the  laws 
or  attend  places  of  worship,  is  as  reasonable  as  to  suppose 


4  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

that  a  human  being  will  walk  because  he  has  attained  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  if  his  legs  have  been  kept  manacled 
from  childhood.  Besides,  the  due  maintenance  of  the 
church  itself  depended  upon  a  local  circumstance — the  ex 
istence  of  towns  or  social  communities.  Now  it  so  hap 
pened  that  the  planters,  distributing  themselves  along  the 
banks  of  the  various  rivers  in  this  colony,  in  order  that 
ships  might  load  direct  from  their  warehouses,  found  it 
their  interest  to  scatter  rather  than  to  gather  into  commu 
nities;  so  that  the  first  settlement,  Jamestown,  was  de 
serted;  and  for  many  years  Williamsburgh  was  a  mere 
court-house  for  the  legislature.  The  church,  being  thus 
unable  to  support  itself,  could  certainly  not  organize  de 
pendent  schools;  and  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  from  its 
settlement  Virginia  may  be  said  to  have  had  neither 
moral  nor  religious  instruction,  except  such  as  came  pri 
vately  from  the  hands  of  Dissenters.  And  here  was  the 
blessing  of  an  establishment.  Not  only  were  the  New 
England  preachers  driven  out  by  a  church  wrhich  was  un 
able  itself  to  discharge  its  functions,  but  when  these  men 
petitioned  for  leave  to  establish  schools,  it  was  refused  on 
the  ground  of  their  non-conformity.  Thus  while  the 
seekers  of  religious  freedom  in  the  North  were  branded 
as  a  set  of  ignorant  fanatics,  the  settlers  of  the  South, 
wealth -seekers  at  best,  were  left  wholly  untaught  to  cor 
rupt  still  more,  till  "the  colonies"  became,  at  home,  an 
other  word  for  all  that  was  contemptible.  The  sovereign 
who  had  coerced  the  one  and  patronized  the  other  de 
spised  them  both.  It  was  enough  for  James  that  in  the 
one  quarter  they  disliked  bishops,  and  in  the  other  grew 
tobacco. 

As  time  went  on  the  growth  of  the  settlements  failed 
to  recommend  them  any  more  to  the  mother  coun 
try.  A  favorite  image  with  Cotton  Mather  and  the  old 
divines  was  to  style  America  "  the  ark  of  the  religious 


PROGRESS  OF  SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA.  5 

world  in  the  rising  of  the  flood  of  persecution."  Un 
fortunately  the  comparison  held  good  in  more  respects 
than  one.  The  ark  contained  not  merely  many  excellent 
creatures,  but  a  specimen  of  every  beast,  clean  and  unclean, 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  In  like  manner  the  colonies,  by 
the  time  of  Charles  II.,  became  the  receptacle  of  all  the 
rogues  and  runagates  who  had  outraged  the  laws  of  Eu 
rope,  a  basin  into  which  England,  when  apoplectic,  re 
lieved  herself  by  pouring  all  her  black  blood.  Every  gen 
tleman  who  was  unfortunate  in  business,  or  took  peculiar 
views  of  the  laws  of  property,  forthwith  crossed  the  At 
lantic.  The  congenial  climate  drew  the  majority  south 
ward,  and  there,  under  the  sanction  of  the  English  gov 
ernment,  these  gentry  began  that  practice  which  became 
the  plague-spot  of  America,  polluting  her  constitution  to 
this  hour — the  importation  of  slaves.  With  this  capital 
as  their  resource  the  Southern  States  became  commercial, 
and  soon  rich;  but  the  devil's  system  thrived  only  to  en 
tail  its  curse.  The  social  poison  first  relaxed  the  settler's 
energies  and  then  their  never-too-strict  morals;  African 
oppression  led  to  European  indulgence;  libertinism  and 
laziness  ushered  in  gaming  and  drinking,  till  this  region 
became  a  mere  bower  of  Bacchus  and  Cytherea,  relieved 
in  the  background  by  a  lively  representation  of  the  in 
fernal  regions.  Nor  was  this  all.  Though  people  went 
there  for  a  living,  they  died  there  so  marvellously  fast  that 
"the  New  World"  seemed  almost  synonymous  with  "the 
next  world,"  though  with  more  resemblance  to  its  lower 
than  its  happier  division.  The  planters  seemed  to  raise 
equal  crops  of  cotton  and  of  fever,  and  the  term  applied 
to  their  territory — a  swamp — was  as  dismal  as  it  was  in 
definite.  Nor  was  the  aspect  of  New  England  much  more 
enticing.  The  majority  of  Englishmen  had  a  horror  of 
solemn  faces  and  psalm-singing,  and  New  England  ap 
peared  to  be  a  mass  of  meeting-houses.  Yet  worse,  the 


6  RETROSPECTIOXS   OF  AMERICA. 

conflict  with  the  Indians  was  still  raging,  and  not  a  ship 
came  home  without  bringing  news  of  some  bloody  work 
among  the  savages.  These  horrors  formed  the  staple  of 
many  a  winter-night's  talk  at  home,  till  the  poorest  wretch 
who  had  a  roof  to  shelter  him,  as  he  raked  up  the  embers 
of  his  hearth,  thanked  God  that  he  was  not  condemned  to 
exile  in  "  the  colonies."  Thus,  for  a  century,  America  was 
looked  on  in  England  as  a  land  of  fevers  and  fanatics,  of 
swamps  and  scamps,  of  self-called  saints  and  savages.  It 
is  a  question  whether  it  was  popular  with  any  one  except 
the  Bristol  merchants  who  lived  by  its  exports,  expectant 
bankrupts,  and  afflicted  fathers  who  had  good-for-nothing 
sons  to  get  rid  of. 

Nor  were  the  feelings  the  different  sections  of  the  coun 
try  entertained  for  each  other  much  more  congenial.  The 
lordly  South  turned  with  disdain  from  the  plodding  North, 
while  the  moral  New-Englander  looked  with  angry  dis 
approval  upon  the  idle,  dissolute  Virginian.  New  Eng 
land,  however,  was  slowly  but  surely  succeeding  in  her 
struggle  with  the  savages,  and  while  some  of  the  ferment 
of  fanaticism  worked  off,  the  strength  of  religious  principle 
remained.  Hers  was  still  an  agricultural  district  and  a  hard 
working,  well-conducted  community;  the  freedom  of  the 
body  her  strongest  rivet  in  the  fetters  of  the  passions;  the 
purity  of  her  life  the  best  title-deeds  to  the  charter  of  her 
fathers.  Thus  she  became  a  reservoir  of  honest  blood;  the 
animating  spirit,  both  as  regarded  intellect  and  principle,  to 
the  gross  flesh  of  other  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  effect 
of  her  nourishing  this  flame  of  freedom  was  her  kindling 
the  fire  of  the  Revolution.  Once  lighted,  however,  it 
spread  readily  in  the  South,  for  the  planters  had  at  least 
never  lost  this  one  purifying  influence — a  love  of  liberty. 
Every  one  is  aware  that  the  champions  of  the  people  in 
England  were  the  friends  of  the  Plymouth  settlers,  but  it 
is  perhaps  not  so  well  known  that  the  managers  of  the 


PROGRESS  OF  SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA.  1 

Virginia  Company,  the  first  governors  of  that  colony — 
established  with  monarchic  institutions  and  the  favorite 
asylum  of  fugitive  Cavaliers — were  among  the  boldest  op 
ponents  of  prerogative  in  both  houses  of  Parliament;  to 
wit — Southampton,  Oxford,  and  Essex,  Selden,  Sandys, 
Rich,  Perrot,  and  Sir  Dudley  Digges.  Virginia,  in  the  out 
set,  was  thus  thrown  into  the  same  ranks  with  New  Eng 
land  as  a  land  of  disaffection.  The  planters  had  always 
held  their  own  prerogatives  to  be  superior  to  the  king's, 
and,  in  the  colonial  assembly,  all  the  activity  they  had  dis 
played  itself  in  opposition.  At  its  first  meeting,  in  1624, 
they  published  a  declaration  of  their  rights  as  a  basis  of 
future  legislation.  Soon  after,  they  seized  and  sent  pris 
oner  to  England  Sir  John  Harvey,  a  transcript  of  Charles 
L,  who  tried  to  play  his  master's  game  among  them.  With 
all  their  loyalty  they  were  the  first  to  oppose  the  Naviga 
tion  Act,  originating  as  a  mark  of  hatred  in  Cromwell,  but 
confirmed  as  a  piece  of  gratitude  by  Charles  II.  Their  whole 
history,  with  that  of  Carolina,  is  a  series  of  struggles  with 
arbitrary  governors,  who  would  persist  in  vetoing  their 
enactments.  The  planters  were  the  feudal  barons  of 
America;  and  even  slavery,  while  relaxing  their  morals, 
served  only  to  stiffen  them  into  more  rigid  upholders  of 
freedom.  It  is  one  of  the  original  remarks  of  Burke  that 
"  slavery  has  always  been  a  cherisher  of  freedom,  since,  to 
the  planter,"  he  observes,  "  liberty  is  not  merely  an  enjoy 
ment,  but  a  distinction."  And  as,  with  increased  wealth,  a 
desire  for  instruction  arose,  as  there  were  no  means  of 
gratifying  it  in  their  native  land,  the  rising  generation  had 
to  be  sent  to  the  mother  country,  to  mix  with  English 
youth,  and  share  with  them  the  influences  of  liberal  edu 
cation.  The  rulers  of  that  country  forgot  how  the  manli 
ness  of  the  colonists  had  been  fostered  by  free  institutions, 
and  that  the  region  of  "  criminals  and  slaves  "  had  been 
sending  its  sons  to  learn  in  England's  universities  the 


8  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

spirit  of  her  government,  and  the  landmarks  of  right  in 
her  courts  of  justice,  when  the  supporters  of  prerogative 
scrupled  not,  in  1764,  to  deny  the  fundamental  principles 
of  liberty.  When  the  arm  that  should  have  enfolded  and 
embraced  the  colonists  was  thus  stretched  out  to  oppress 
them,  the  blow  that  was  meant  to  crush  served  only  to 
animate,  and  America,  despised  as  a  dependence,  became 
a  nation. 

The  Revolution,  in  the  heat  of  an  all-combining  sym 
pathy,  fused  the  great  mass  of  prejudice  and  repulsion, 
and  so  long  as  the  pressure  from  without  lasted,  the 
Americans  were  consolidated  in  heart  and  mind  as  one 
man.  It  gave  an  impulse  to  native  migration,  which,  like 
native  manufactures,  had  so  long  been  checked  by  royal 
policy.  The  states  as  colonies  were  needed  only  on  the 
shore;  the  enterprising,  now  safe  wherever  their  posses 
sions  might  be,  were  tempted  to  a  wider  range.  It  also 
held  out  fresh  inducements  to  immigration  from  the  most 
diverse  sources.  Commerce  was  no  longer  confined  to  the 
South,  for  the  superior  local  resources  of  the  Middle  States 
(New  York,  Pennsylvania,  etc.)  rendered  them  an  attrac 
tive  arena  for  the  skill  and  capital  of  Europe,  so  that  in  a 
short  time  this  new  circle  rose  as  superior  to  the  others  in 
wealth,  enterprise,  and  population  as  it  was  distinct  in 
its  diversities  of  character.  To  promote  immigration, 
which  had  been  thus  beneficial,  every  encouragement  was 
offered  (in  Delaware,  for  instance,  a  man  could  hold  lands 
without  becoming  a  citizen);  consequently,  for  many  years 
after  the  great  convulsion,  the  Middle  States  presented  a 
sort  of  sample  of  the  whole  civilized  world. 

Another  great  and  good  effect  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  was  the  bringing  in  of  a  taste  for  refinement, 
through  the  influence  of  the  gallant  French,  who  had4ent 
their  aid  to  the  patriots  in  their  struggle  with  England, 
This  made  indeed  an  era  in  the  progress  of  society  in 


PROGRESS  OF  SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA.  9 

America;  and  however  it  afforded  ground  for  temporary 
debate,  proved  eventually  of  much  benefit.  French  man 
ners,  abstractly  considered,  are  doubtless  worthy  of  be 
coming  universal,  the  only  question  is,  Can  they  be  allied 
with  sound  morality?  Many  consider  the  perfect  union 
of  the  two  only  a  possibility  of  the  millennium;  that  Mo 
rality  and  Refinement  are  a  couple  so  repugnant  in  their 
natures  that  no  form  of  government  could  pronounce  their 
banns,  and  that  the  one  can  only  cling  to  the  hut  of  a  re 
public,  the  other  haunt  solely  the  halls  of  monarchies.  It 
is  curious  to  observe  how  America  has  been  the  general 
battle-field  of  principles,  an  epitome  in  her  progress  of  so 
much  that  is  interesting  in  the  history  of  man;  how,  after 
her  freedom  was  established,  the  question  of  her  manners 
was  mooted  by  the  Southern  and  Northern  States  with  all 
the  prejudices  of  royal  and  republican  communities.  As 
the  discussion  throws  a  light  upon  the  times  and  explains 
the  nature  of  much  provincial  feeling,  it  may  not  be  amiss 
to  give  an  outline  of  it.  In  the  South  a  relish  for  refine 
ment  was  readily  imparted,  and  was  fostered  by  local 
causes.  There  were  so  many  constitutional  resemblances 
between  Frenchmen  and  the  planters,  that  the  habits  of  the 
one  fitted  the  other  as  though  they  had  been  made  to  meas 
ure.  But  the  impulse  failed  to  go  northward.  The  New- 
Englanders,  looking  back  to  their  ancestry,  who,  like 
cocoanuts,  had  the  roughest  of  rinds  with  the  sweetest  of 
cores,  were  fully  persuaded  that  purity  within  was  always 
in  proportion  to  simplicity  of  exterior,  and  were  unwilling 
to  come  out  of  the  security  of  their  antique  entrenchments, 
however  offensive  these  might  be  to  modern  eyes.  But 
the  Southern  epicureans  were  so  full  of  sociability,  they  re 
solved  to  pour  a  little  into  the  honest  stoics  of  the  North, 
willy-nilly.  Their  ideas  of  patriotism  would  not  suffer 
them  to  approve  of  manners  which  had  an  English  affinity. 
"Why,"  they  exclaimed,  in  mingled  wonder  and  iiidigna- 


10  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

tion,  "  do  you  display  to  England  such,  a  slavish  spirit  of 
imitation  ?  when  you  have  thrown  off  her  political  shackles, 
why  wear  those  of  her  cold,  dull,  burdensome  formalities? 
What  is  the  impression  you  convey  to  Europe  of  America? 
If  a  stranger  come  among  you  at  an  evening  party  he  is 
not  introduced  to  the  company  generally,  that  he  may  be 
amalgamated  with  it  immediately,  but  is  led  by  the  host 
or  hostess  like  a  lamb  to  every  chair  in  the  room  (their 
occupants  eying  as  if  they  would  eat  him),  and  at  last 
provided  with  one  in  a  corner,  where  he  is  abandoned  to 
the  mercy  of  Providence,  for  nothing  under  a  miracle  can 
procure  him  the  least  attention.  The  women  sit  huddled 
together  in  another  corner,  whispering  and  winking,  evi 
dently  in  dissection  of  his  personal  appearance.  When 
dinner  brings  them  together  each  person  seems  to  be  an 
independent  government  that  must  provide  for  itself. 
The  wine,  he  fondly  imagines,  will  be  the  dawn  of  soci 
ability,  poor  fellow!  the  ice  melts  to  drench  him  with  a 
springflood.  Each  person  is  so  punctilious  that  his  own 
health  is  ruined  in  drinking  other  people's.  The  cloth  re 
moved,  he  assures  himself  of  some  enjoyment  in  discover 
ing  the  tastes  and  characters  of  the  females,  when  lo!  up 
they  start  like  a  covey  of  pheasants  and  fly  into  the  next 
room.  He  is  then  condemned  to  brandy-and-water  and 
the  society  of  men  whom  by  this  time  he  has  begun 
heartily  to  hate.  When  he  rejoins  the  women,  if  the  host 
and  hostess  are  not  scrupulous  in  regard  to  cards  or  dancing, 
their  indulgence  is  limited  to  eleven  o'clock,  so  that,  at  the 
very  hour  he  has  carried  all  the  outworks  of  his  new  friends' 
confidence,  estimable  propriety  turns  him  out,  on  a  nipping 
winter's  night,  to  go  home  and  keep  himself  warm — by  ut 
tering  imprecations."  To  this  the  stoics  of  the  North  re 
plied:  "  True,  we  treat  a  stranger  with  reserve,  because  we 
are  not  certain  it  wrould  be  safe  to  be  free  with  him.  Civil 
ized  men  must  be  regarded  as  wild  men  till  you  discover 


PROGRESS  OF  SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA.  H 

they  won't  harm  yon.  Should  a  visitor  prove  worthy  of 
becoming  a  friend,  we  make  amends  for  our  early  fears  by 
endeavoring  to  detain  him.  You,  on  the  contrary,  in  the 
frenzy  of  your  benevolence,  open  your  arms  to  every  one 
that  comes  with  a  plausible  tongue,  a  genteel  exterior,  and 
convivial  habits.  You  stop  to  make  no  inquiries  or  ob 
servations;  you  give  him  welcome  to  your  house  at  once, 
and  put  it  in  his  power  to  make  himself  welcome  to  all 
that's  in  it.  Such  being  French  manners,  we  cleave  to 
those  of  our  forefathers,  not  because  they  were  English, 
but  because  they  were  good,  prudent  men,  who,  knowing 
that  evil  was  on  its  travels  (the  devil  is  a  great  walker), 
as  well  as  good,  cared  only  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the 
latter." 

The  South  tried  to  escape  this  rebuff  by  placing  the 
point  in  another  position.  "You  may  exercise  all  your 
present  caution,"  said  they,  "  and  still  relax  a  little  of  your 
old-fashioned  rigidity.  Your  error  consists  in  keeping 
your  females  so  much  in  the  background.  Women  are 
the  great  refiners  of  society;  make  your  wives  and  daugh 
ters  eschew  the  kitchen  and  the  nursery  for  the  drawing- 
room,  and  you  will  easily  rise  to  our  level." 

The  sturdy  North  saw  in  this  the  gist  of  the  argument. 
"  Women,"  they  replied,  "  may  be  the  refiners  of  society, 
but  they  are  also  its  preservers,  wives  and  mothers  being 
the  depositaries  of  its  morals.  We  arc  taught  by  the  ex 
ample  of  all  countries  that,  with  the  sex  which  has  the 
least  judgment,  morals  principally  depend  on  manners; 
the  fruit  is  guarded  by  a  shell  which  we  won't  hazard  the 
experiment  of  cracking.  In  this  point  we  are  proud  of  a 
resemblance  to  England.  There  a  woman  lives  for  her 
husband.  She  is  the  luminary  that  irradiates  and  keeps 
his  world  together;  and  if  he  secludes  her,  it  is  because 
he  compares  her  in  her  exceeding  preciousness  to  a  vase — 
a  thing  which,  trusted  to  other  hands,  might  fall,  and  in 


12  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

its  ruin  include  bis.  But  you  prefer  France,  where  a 
woman  lives  for  the  world  and  gets  a  husband  as  the 
means;  where  she  is  artificial,  ornamental,  anything  but 
useful ;  like  the  watch  she  carries,  made  for  show,  not  for 
service;  where  her  life  is  an  actress's,  to  play  Venus  and 
the  Graces  before  elegant  assemblies;  and  where  a  hus 
band  who  thus  generously  gives  up  his  spouse  to  others' 
admiration,  thinks  it  no  harm  to  admire  his  neighbor's. 
Every  one  to  his  taste;  we  have  fought  for  our  liberties, 
let  us  enjoy  them.  You  like  the  refiners  of  society,  we 
the  preservers.  We  are  willing  to  admit  that  our  liking 
is  an  imitation  of  England,  but  are  not  you  imitating  Eng 
land  also  in  attempting  to  control  our  liking  ?" 

Many  years  have  elapsed  since  this  social  sharp  shot  was 
exchanged,  and  I  cannot  refrain  from  observing  that 
among  the  many  changes  America  has  seen,  that  of  the 
union  of  these  "warring  elements"  is  not  the  least  re 
markable.  Thanks  to  the  spread  of  intelligence  the  rigid 
ity  of  the  North  has  relaxed,  the  laxity  of  the  South  has 
been  corrected;  and  now,  in  every  respectable  city,  French 
manners  may  be  seen  in  loving  alliance  with  sound  and 
wholesome  English  morality — a  beautiful  superficies  to  a 
solid  substratum — a  pint  of  Burgundy  supported  by  a 
pound  of  beef! 

Meanwhile  how  was  the  independent  young  country  re 
garded  by  the  parent  whose  authority  she  had  successfully 
defied  and  cast  off  ?  A  panic  seized  the  baffled  coercers 
lest  this  example  should  prove  infectious.  It  became 
necessary  to  show  the  incompatibility  of  American  institu 
tions  with  the  maintenance  of  morality  and  order.  Not 
only  was  this  new  equality  of  rights  and  comforts  a  mere 
hectic  on  the  cheek  of  premature  decay,  but  the  profana- 

/ion  that  had  been  offered  to  the  great  Juggernaut  of 
.egitimacy  could  result  in  nothing  less  than  an  absolute 
cancer.  America's  claim  to  protection  from  the  British 


PROGRESS  OF  SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA.  13 

constitution  had  been  impertinent;  her  resistance  to  an 
outrage  on  that  constitution,  unnatural;  and  the  success 
of  that  resistance  but  the  mode  Divine  vengeance  had 
adopted  to  bring  down  upon  her  head  a  heavier  retribu 
tion.  She  had  hurled  a  stone  into  the  air  which,  by  the 
law  of  nature,  must  descend  to  crush  her;  she  had  not 
"  honored  her  father  and  her  mother,"  and  her  days  were 
not  to  be  "  long  in  the  land."  These  prophecies  from 
"  high  places  "  would,  however,  probably  have  had  little 
effect  upon  the  English  people  had  not  America  touched 
England  on  her  most  sensitive  point  by  exhibiting  so  de-  , 
cided  a  sympathy  with  France,  and  by  challenging,  in  self- 
defence,  a  second  war  when  it  was  a  popular  impression 
that  England  wras  fighting  the  cause  of  liberty  in  Europe. 
Such  a  state  of  things  suspended  all  generous  communica 
tion  between  the  two  countries.  Enlightened  travellers 
preferred  nearer  and  safer  shores,  and  even  men  of  science 
were  not  tempted  to  exploration  by  the  riches  of  America's 
natural  productions.  It  is  true  emigration  did  not  cease. 
Not  a  year  elapsed  without  sending  over  some  of  those 
brisk  fellows  who  carry  the  favors  of  Dame  Fortune  by 
the  boldness  of  their  addresses.  They  found  the  land  re 
freshed  and  stirring  after  the  calm  that  had  succeeded  the  -< 
revolutionary  struggle.  Intercourse  was  general,  money 
abundant,  and  a  spirit  of  enterprise  animating  all  tilings. 
Intelligence  of  their  success  soon  travelled  home,  which, 
while  it  failed  to  disclose  its  method,  magnified  its  amount. 
Each  man,  it  was  said,  owned  his  cave  of  jewels,  though 
he  did  not  choose  to  explain  the  nature  of  his  wonderful 
lamp;  and  a  few  such  cases  sufficed  to  invest  the  country 
with  a  golden  haze  of  poetic  indistinctness,  till  America, 
to  English  ears,  now  became  the  synonym  of  independ 
ence,  pecuniary  as  well  as  political,  and  glittered  in  the 
day-dreams  of  the  husbandman  as  the  true  region,  after 
all,  where  the  guineas  grew  like  berries  on  a  bush,  and  the 


14  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

wild-fowl  fell  into  the  fingers  of  the  hungry,  ready  cooked 
by  a  sympathizing  sun.  Still,  it  must  be  confessed,  these 
illusions  had  their  counter-charm,  and  it  was  America's  un 
happy  fate  to  combine  the  two  extremes  of  being  as  much 
underrated  in  moral  as  overrated  in  physical  respects. 
People  had  read  strange  accounts  of  the  state  of  manners 
in  the  Union.  A  deep  gloom  of  savagery  overhung  the 
prospect  and  rendered  it  a  stalking-place  for  legions  of 
chimeras.  It  was  a  repeat  of  fairy-land  not  merely  in  its 
treasure-caves,  but  its  hippogriffs  and  ogres,  against  which 
numerous  patriotic  visitors  had  put  their  quills  in  rest. 

The  first  writers  on  the  subject  were  chiefly  immigrants 
who,  settling  on  a  certain  patch  of  acres,  regarded  its  ho 
rizon  as  the  outline  of  the  continent;  flitting  visitors  who, 
like  swallows,  reviewed  a  region  while  on  the  wing;  or 
a  set  of  miscellaneous  adventurers  who,  failing  in  their 
speculations,  devised  the  scheme  of  paying  their  expenses 
home  by  writing  books  in  dispraise  of  the  country,  know 
ing  that  England's  irritation  at  American  sympathy  with 
France  would  readily  welcome  their  perversions.  Re-, 
turned  emigrants  and  bookmakers  had  the  republic  entire 
ly  to  themselves;  nor  can  it  be  wondered  at,  when  we 
consider  their  positions  and  their  minds,  that  they  should 
have  taken  advantage  of  a  temporary  excitement  to  make 
the  ink  which  traced  her  character  a  deeper  black  by  the 
gall  of  party  spirit. 

But  what,  it  may  be  asked,  was  the  sum  of  their  labors? 
Unable  to  provide  their  friends  with  a  palatable  solution 
of  her  startling  political  phenomena,  finding  that  her 
principles  of  government  were  like  a  block  of  ice,  too  mas 
sive  to  be  broken  and  too  pure  to  defile,  they  turned  to 
the  more  pliant  material  of  manners,  in  order  to  show  the 
impossibility  of  a  people  learning  how  to  behave  them- 
selves  without  that  expensive  governess  —  an  aristocra 
cy.  And  here,  when  Error  dropped  the  scourge,  Injustice 


PROGRESS   OF   SOCIETY   IN  AMERICA.  15 

picked  it  up.  In  the  spirit  of  Herod  they  made  war  upon 
childhood.  Disdaining  history,  which  teaches  that  a  na 
tion,  like  a  man,  has  its  stages  of  progression,  they  re-s 
quired  a  whole  country  to  be  in  bloom  in  less  time  than 
an  aloe.  Ere  she  had  caught  the  first  notes  of  music 
they  expected  her  to  dance;  before  she  had  cleared  away 
her  forests  they  called  for  palaces. 

The  New-Englanders,  for  instance,  all  stood  convicted 
of  that  offence  to  minds  polite — poverty.  Yet,  strange  to 
say,  the  ardor  of  their  endeavors  to  overcome  this  defi 
ciency  was  regarded  as  anything  but  a  virtue.  Unblest 
with  wealth,  they  exhibited  a  distaste  for  leisure  which  was  / 
perfectly  barbarous.  Their  possessions  were  few,  but  their  j 
appetite  for  gain  very  sordid.  It  was  true  they  had  a  / 
variety  of  vulgar  virtues,  such  as  temperance,  industry, 
and  honesty,  but  what  were  these  to  compensate  for  the 
absence  of  institutions  which  encourage  poetical  tastes 
and  a  chivalric  deportment.  In  Vsirginia  the  case  was 
worse.  The  land  of  wealth  and  leisure,  the  generous, 
aristocratic,  money-spending  Virginia  displayed  its  civil 
ization  in  horse-racing,  cock-fighting,  and  dram-drinking; 
indulgences  which  could  only  be  traced  to  the  change  in 
the  government,  since  these  writers  were  not  aware  that 
they  had  existed  a  century  previous  under  an  established 
church  and  state.  Clear  as  were  their  statements  upon 
these  points,  they  were  occasionally  eccentric  upon  the 
New  World's  geography  and  social  arrangements,  trans 
porting  the  backwoods  to  the  seashore,  linking  New  Eng 
land  to  the  slave  states,  and  peopling  this  sea-bounded 
forest  indiscriminately  with  Yankees,  blacks,  and  savages. 
Some  people  were  so  stupid  as  to  doubt,  from  their  descrip 
tion,  whether  places  like  New  York  and  Philadelphia  wrere  / 
really  towns  or  wigwams;  whether  "local  legislatures" 
were  not  hunting-parties,  which  decided  cases  on  a  stump, 
by  rule  of  rifle;  and  "  civil  institutions"  a  handsome  mode 


16  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

of  designating  whipping-posts.  On  one  point  they  could 
not  be  mistaken.  There  was  no  religion  in  the  country, 
because  there  was  no  establishment.  But,  from  their  am 
biguous  remarks  upon  plantations  and  slave  labor,  the  fact 
that  there  were  plantations  in  "New  England  led  many 
worthy  persons  to  believe  that  the  Puritans  were,  after  all, 
mere  traffickers  in  black  flesh.  Local  phenomena  were  a 
maze  of  wonders.  What  classification,  for  instance,  could 
be  given  to  the  animal  called  Yankee  ?  He  was  a  decided 
Sphinx.  No  two  persons  in  England,  who  had  read  ac 
counts  of  him,  could  agree  upon  his  conformation.  Some 
imagined  him  to  be  a  native  magician  who  could  conjure 
the  money  out  of  your  pocket  by  muttering  six  words  of 
a  peculiar  cabala;  others  that  he  was  an  ourang-outang, 
or  the  American  satyr,  with  the  brains  of  a  man  and  the 
claws  of  a  brute;  while  the  greater  portion  set  him  down 
for  a  crocodile  with  a  large  development  of  jaw,  prowling 
about  the  shores  and  wharves  to  pounce  on  the  unwary 
stranger.  However  they  might  differ  upon  the  point  of 
form,  all  were  agreed  that  it  was  his  nature  to  rob,  and 
moreover  to  strip.  The  experience  of  all  travellers  had 
gone  to  prove  that  Puritan  New  England  had  set  up  anew 
the  office  of  the  Inquisition,  where  strangers  were  treated 
as  heretics  and  put,  without  distinction,  to  the  "  question." 
The  Yankee  then  was  the  American  "  Familiar,"  who  not 
merely  plundered  but  tortured  you. 

y  The  red  men,  too,  were  a  popular  bugbear.  They  were 
supposed  to  infest  your  house  like  rats,  and  their  whoop- 
ings  to  be  a  nightly  serenade.  Not  a  bush  in  your  garden 
but  glittered  with  their  dark  eyes,  and  even  your  wood- 
cellars  might  be  packed  with  them,  so  that,  in  attempting 
to  throw  on  the  lire  what  seemed  a  log  of  hickory,  you 
would  suddenly  see  it  animate  and  brandish  a  tomahawk. 
Again,  there  was  much  misconception  upon  the  point  of 
slavery.  The  Southern  States  were  supposed  to  be  a  huge 


PROGRESS  OF  SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA.  17 

prison  or  a  fetter  manufactory,  where  not  only  black  but 
white  men  might  be  made  to  take  the  place  of  cattle  in  \ 
the  fields,  if  caught  alone  by  certain  Afghans  of  the  West 
called  planters;  for  kidnapping  and  the  slave  trade  were 
their  principal  sources  of  wealth;  and  the  devil,  like  the 
Deity,  was  no  respecter  of  persons.  Slavery  was  but  an 
extension  of  the  apprenticeship  system,  by  which  the  land 
had  been  first  cultivated,  and  it  was  believed  that  where 
labor  could  be  enforced  the  color  of  the  laborer  was  but 
of  little  consequence.  It  was  even  suspected  that  there 
was  a  peculiarly  deteriorating  and  barbarizing  influence  in 
the  atmosphere,  which  speedily  converted  white  people, 
native  or  exotic,  into  something  like  savages,  even  though 
they  had  enjoyed  the  best  of  educations.  This  was  the 
change  which  most  people  understood  by  the  American 
term  of  "  naturalizing  a  foreigner."  Gouging  was  thought 
to  be  fashionable  fun  among  the  American  gentry;  and 
some  old  ladies  even  had  misgivings  whether  they  were  ' 
not  cannibals,  for  stories  had  been  heard  of  certain  plant 
ers  smacking  their  lips  over  "  black-baby  broth."  As  to 
their  domestic  feelings,  it  was  well  known  that,  in  winter 
time,  a  man  would  not  scruple  to  thrash  his  grandfather, 
simply  to  promote  his  own  circulation. 

Does  it  seem  strange  that  such  absurdities  should  ever 
have  been  credited  in  enlightened  England  ?  The  credulity 
may  be  traced,  not  only  to  a  special  and  temporary  influ 
ence,  but  partly  to  a  general  and  more  permanent  one. 
Manners  and  customs  depending,  as  they  do,  so  much  on 
difference  of  climate  and  government,  every  country  has 
felt  itself  entitled  to  set  up  its  own  standard,  a  sort  of 
papacy  in  taste,  a  rule  by  which  all  other  peoples'  usages 
have  been  judged  heathen  or  heretic.  Each  land  is  Ath 
ens  in  its  own  judgment,  and  all  foreign  soils  barbaric. 
The  English  have  always  been  practical  and  active  rather 
than  ideal,  and  the  security  of  their  possessions  has  made  a 


18  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

High  Church  of  their  hearth — it  cannot  tolerate  a  non- 
/  conformist.  This  deficiency  in  the  ideal  and  contempt  for 
others'  social  usages  may  be  detected  in  England's  treat 
ment  of  travellers'  tales.  While  her  calm,  clear  sense  has 
rarely  failed  to  penetrate  the  fictions  of  those  far-wander 
ing  wonder-seekers  whom  Europe  yearly  radiates  through 
the  circumference  of  the  globe,  she  has  displayed  a  singular 
credulity  in  listening  to  exaggerations  which  have  tended 
to  exalt  her  own  standard  of  the  proper  and  convenient. 
On  this  point  she  has  strained  at  gnats  and  swallowed 
camels.  While  she  has  heard  with  due  allowance  of  the 
enormities  of  savages,  with  whom  there  could  be  no  pos 
sibility  of  comparison,  she  has  not  always  been  so  just 
towards  the  reported  barbarisms  of  a  kinsman  or  a  neigh 
bor,  who  might  claim  equal  authority  with  herself  on 
questions  of  taste.  Of  a  mammoth  at  the  North  Pole  she 
has  required  the  bones  in  evidence,  but  mammoths  in 
the  drawing-room  have  been  taken  on  assertion.  Bruce 
she  nobly  laughed  at,  because  he  seemed  ungenerously  to 
belie  the  simple  African.  There  have  been  many  less 
truthful  than  Bruce  in  America,  and  few  have  been  dis 
credited. 

Of  course,  refinement  can  only  be  attained  in  a  settled 
state  of  society  where  wealth  is  diffused,  and,  for  this, 
time  is  required.  To  expect,  therefore,  that  America,  with 
resources  so  vast,  population  so  incomplete,  and  their 
diversity  so  great,  should,  on  the  day  she  took  her  stand 
among  nations,  rival  them  in  other  points  than  bravery 
and  virtue,  was  to  demand  no  less  a  miracle  than  that  of 
Minerva  stepping  fully  armed  from  the  head  of  Jove. 
But,  waiving  this  concession,  the  charge  of  barbarism,  as 
•vl  directed  against  a  large  portion  of  Americans,  is  shame- 
S"  fully  unfounded.  What  does  it  involve  ?  The  very  height 
of  an  American's  domestic  iniquity  is  that  he  smokes  and 
spits.  Yet  who  ever  saw  this  at  a  decent  party ;  or,  after 


PROGRESS  OF  SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA.  19 

dinner,  till  the  females  had  retired.  Every  country  must 
have  its  peculiarities,  and  cards  and  dice  would  certainly 
be  a  more  elegant  stimulus;  yet  the  cigar  does  but  usurp 
the  honors  of  the  pipe.  But  then  expectoration  is  unfor 
givable.  Certainly  there  may  be  much  offence  to  Euro 
pean  rule  in  salivating  by  tobacco  instead  of  mercury,  but, 
after  all,  why  is  the  poor  American  to  be  stigmatized  for 
doing  what  a  polished  Frenchman  may  indulge  in  with 
impunity  ?j 

But  further,  says  the  bookmaker,  the  American  is  very 
vain  and  arrogant,  is  ridiculously  sensitive,  prefers  his 
own  country  to  the  world,  talks  perpetually  of  the  two 
wars,  and  distinguishes  himself  by  being  either  meanly 
inquisitive  or  brutally  blunt.  Who  is  so  ?  The  wealthy 
and  hospitable  merchant,  the  man  of  science  and  public 
fame,  or  the  jovial  and  generous  planter?  No  ;  the  shop 
keeper,  the  tavern-keeper,  the  driver  of  the  coach,  or  the 
captain  of  the  ship;  these  are  the  criteria  by  which  the 
bookmaker  estimates  the  heads  and  hearts  of  the  com 
munity.  And  why  ?  Because,  it  is  most  probable,  from 
some  defect  in  his  own  character  these  are  the  only  per 
sons  he  has  been  doomed  to  encounter;  and  thus,  either 
from  ignorance  or  envy,  he  revenges  his  exclusion  by 
bringing  down  his  superiors  to  his  own  level.  But,  admit 
ting  that  the  American  is  vain  and  sensitive,  and  likes  to 
talk  of  his  country  and  its  wars,  are  these  peculiarities  of 
a  nature,  I  would  ask,  to  excite  either  wonder  or  ridicule  ? 
Every  young  country  whose  achievements  are  yet  to  come 
is  like  a  new  aspirant  in  art,  who  thinks  that  the  eyes  of 
his  elders  are  bent  on  him  with  jealousy,  and  that  the 
sneer  of  the  meanest  will  find  a  general  echo.  Such  is 
American  sensitiveness.  John  Bull,  a  veteran,  surrounded 
by  glories  like  Saturn  by  his  belt,  disdains  to  reply  to  an 
antagonist,  but  silently  pointing  to  a  long  line  of  triumphs 
smiles  the  snarler  into  silence.  But  is  the  national  vanity 


20  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

of  the  American  so  ludicrous  when  it  is  a  fact  that  he 
wrested  his  liberties  from,  the  grasp  of  the  mightiest  em 
pire  of  the  earth,  and  beat  from  his  soil,  in  the  last  war, 
the  heroes  of  the  Peninsula,  the  conquerors  of  Europe's 
conqueror  ?  As  to  the  point  of  preferring  his  own  coun 
try  to  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  he  makes  but  one  reply — 
that  for  many  years  past  a  large  part  of  the  population  of 
England  has  concurred  in  his  prejudice. 

With  little  liberality  the  officers  of  the  American  army 
have  been  instanced  as  mere  Goths.  Now  conceding  that 
the  historical  connection  between  a  soldier  and  a  gentle 
man  (in  its  European  sense)  is  indissoluble,  the  Americans 
never  pretended  to  be  soldiers — they  merely  called  them 
selves  Patriots.  They  possessed  neither  colleges  nor  courts 
to  mould  them  into  old-world  refinement.  Their  ambi 
tion  was  to  defend  their  soil;  their  glory  to  secure  their 
rights;  they  never  dreamed  of  rivalling  the  fame  of  pro 
fessional  throatcutters.  Or,  if  some  did  so  aspire,  how 
was  a  general  to  collect  a  sufficient  number  of  such  when 
the  blast  of  an  enemy's  trumpet  was  stunning  him,  or  the 
blaze,  perhaps,  of  his  own  beloved  dwelling  blinding  his 
eyes  ?  Was  that  a  time  to  hold  Chesterfield  in  one  hand  and 
a  mirror  in  the  other,  and  to  determine  the  strength,  edge, 
and  handiness  of  a  weapon  by  the  brilliance  of  its  polish  ? 

Descending  then  to  the  underlings,  the  tradesmen,  that 
class  whose  savage  horrors,  duly  held  up  to  English  con 
sternation,  have  libelled  the  characters  of  American  gen 
tlemen — it  strikes  me  that  England  and  Europe  have 
been  the  parents  of  the  abomination — that  the  curiosity 
or  bluntness  of  the  middle  classes  are  but  the  forms  of 
the  caution  or  contempt  into  which  they  have  been  driven 
by  European  imposition — by  the  deluge  that  has  been 
poured  upon  them  of  "  rascals,  runagates,  that  their  o'er- 
cloyed  countries  vomit  forth,  to  desperate  adventure  and 
destruction." 


PROGRESS  OF  SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA.  21 

But  admitting  this  were  not  the  case,  and  taking  the 
porcupine  Avith  all  his  quills  erect,  which  is  the  least  of 
fensive  animal,  the  gruff  and  blunt  Independent,  who 
treats  you  honestly,  or  the  fawning  and  obsequious  Mr. 
Smirk,  of  England,  who,  pressed  to  the  earth  by  taxation, 
can  only  raise  his  head  by  a  system  which  renders  him  a 
robber  as  well  as  a  slave  ?  Government,  it  is  true,  mod 
els  not  only  the  morals  and  manners,  but  the  tastes  of  a 
people,  and  the  aristocrat  who  has  been  fed  on  the  hom 
age  of  his  inferiors  will  pay  any  sum  rather  than  dispense 
with  it,  and  despises  a  country  where  he  finds  the  standard 
of  excellence  not  to  consist  in  the  perfection  of  a  code  of 
deportment.  But  even  this  man  (far  above  the  rank  of 
the  mass  of  bookmakers),  would  be  unusually  hollow- 
headed  did  he  expect  to  find  in  a  young  and  vigorous 
republic  one  of  the  results  of  a  decrepit  despotism. 

As  the  nineteenth  century  progressed  England  renewed 
her  intercourse  with  America  and  began  to  laugh  at  the 
absurdity  of  the  tales  to  which  she  had  given  credence. 
Under  the  affinities  of  blood,  laws,  and  language,  this  in 
tercourse  must  keep  increasing,  to  the  expulsion  of  all 
error  and  the  establishment  of  mutual  good- will.  True 
that  a  party  fire  has  been  kept  up  of  various  leaden  vol 
umes  to  prevent  this  consummation,  but  the  efforts  must 
be  futile. 

I  am  an  Englishman:  after  twenty-three  years  absence, 
and  nearly  fifty  years  wandering  in  a  profession  which 
has  made  me  appear  the  veriest  citizen  of  the  world,  I 
have  returned  to  die  in  my  native  land  with  unaltered 
feelings.  I  love  my  country,  its  people,  and  its  institu 
tions,  modified  so  as  to  augment  the  people's  happiness, 
and  for  these  very  reasons,  as  each  suggests  a  resemblance, 
I  love  America!  My  experience  has  conducted  me  from 
the  presence  of  my  king  to  mingle  with  the  humblest  sub 
jects  of  a  republican  government;  and  the  sum  of  my  con- 


22  RETROSPECTIONS   OF   AMERICA. 

victions  is  this:  that  in  all  the  higher  and  nobler  elements 
of  the  human  character  there  are  identities  between  the 
Americans  and  the  Britons  which  should  place  the  former 
in  the  relation  of  brothers,  now  they  have  ceased  to  be 
sons.  This  union  is  pointed  out  by  every  principle  of 
policy,  and  ought  to  be  sanctified  by  the  deepest  throbs 
of  affection;  and  this  my  prayer  that  the  time  may  be  at 
hand  when  every  one  who  attempts  to  foment  instead  of 
to  subdue  their  prejudices  will  become  an  object  of  equal 
scorn  to  both  countries. 


CHAPTER  II. 

1797. — Boston  and  New  England. — Reasons  for  Emigration. — Exercise 
on  Board ;  Attack  by  Pirates. — Reception  at  Boston. — Hodgkinson  ;  an 
Improvised  Tragedy. — Boston's  Resemblance  to  Old  England. — Why 
New  England  Goes  Ahead  ;  its  Method  of  Progress ;  not  Understood  by 
the  English. — The  New  England  Stage  ;  its  Driver. — Roads. — Mosqui 
toes  Promote  Patriotism. — The  Yankees  ;  the  Swapper ;  the  Jobber ;  the 
Pedler. — Anecdotes  of  Yankee  Cuteness. — New  England  Seamen  ;  a 
Profitable  Cargo. 

THE  causes  which  led  me  to  make  one  of  the  band  who 
were  bold  enough  to  face  the  perils  of  swamps,  snakes, 
tomahawks,  and  Yankees  in  far-off  America  can  be  told 
in  very  few  words.  They  were  the  failure  of  two  or  three 
managerial  speculations  (to  one  of  which  I  had  been  ad 
vised  by  my  gracious  friend  the  late  king)  and  the  patron 
age  of  an  extensive  circle  of  fashionable  acquaintances. 
In  London  I  wras  indeed  being  "killed  with  kindness." 
Enjoying  the  fatal  honor  of  being  secretary  to  the  famous 
Beefsteak  Club,  of  which  the  prince  regent  was  a  mem 
ber,  and  treasurer  or  secretary  to  half  a  dozen  others,  in 
that  most  convivial  of  eras  when  the  cry  of  "  Clubs  "  was 
raised  in  every  street  in  London,  though  in  a  far  different 
spirit  from  that  which  sounded  it  in  the  days  of  James  I., 
it  became  a  matter  of  official  necessity  that  I  should  keep 
open  house,  and  for  those,  too,  for  whom  only  the  best 
was  ever  good  enough.  Better  judges  than  my  brother 
members  of  port-wine,  mock-turtle,  coats,  guns,  dogs,  or 
horses  did  not  exist.  The  consequences  were  inevitable. 
I  had  to  retreat  while  I  could  do  so  with  honor. 

The  habits  of  an  active  life  prompted  me  perhaps  to 


24  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

something  like  restlessness  on  board  the  vessel  in  which 
I  made  the  voyage,  drawing  forth  a  very  characteristic 
observation  from  an  Irish  fellow-passenger.  He  was  a 
sort  of  sociable  Quietist,  who  would  stretch  himself  on  a 
bench  to  the  leeward  all  day,  with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth, 
and  fix  his  eyes  on  a  particular  spot  on  the  mast,  as  though 
it  had  been  a  book  of  memoranda.  "  Ton  my  conscience, 
Mr.  Bernard,"  he  exclaimed  one  day,  "  I  wonder  you  don't 
wear  out  your  legs."  "  Why,"  replied  I,  "  when  a  man 
has  but  a  space  of  twenty  feet  by  four  to  turn  in,  he  can 
scarcely  take  too  much  exercise."  "  But  where's  the  need 
of  exercise?"  "The  need?"  "Yes;  doesn't  the  captain 
say  the  ship  is  carrying  us  two  hundred  miles  a  day? 
Surely  that's  exercise  enough." 

It  would  have  been  out  of  keeping  with  the  adventur 
ous  tenor  of  my  life  if  this  voyage  had  passed  over  with 
out  some  unusual  source  of  excitement;  and,  accordingly, 
all  fear  of  monotony  was  dissipated  one  morning,  after  we 
had  cleared  the  Azores,  by  the  sun  suddenly  drawing  up 
a  veil  of  mist  and  disclosing  a  vessel  not  far  off.  Her 
features  were  unmistakably  those  of  a  pirate — long,  low, 
and  roomy,  with  a  row  of  teeth,  to  use  the  sea-phrase — 
which  gave  ample  assurance  that  she  never  barked  with 
out  biting.  The  breeze  being  faint,  she  lay  and  looked  at 
us  for  half  an  hour,  as  a  cat  does  at  a  canary,  and  then  a 
shot  came  skipping  and  dipping  before  our  bows  to  bring 
us  to,  and  a  large  square  sail  was  hoisted  to  lay  her  along 
side.  We  could  now  perceive  that  her  deck  was  crowded 
with  an  ugly  assortment  of  walking  armories,  with  bushy 
black  hair  on  their  crowns  and  under  their  chins,  looking 
indeed  complete  "  Kydds,"  and  by  no  means  lambkins. 
To  describe  the  confusion  on  board  our  packet  would  be 
impossible.  We  stared,  with  sinking  hearts,  in  each  other's 
faces,  and  then  all  glances  converged  upon  the  captain  ; 
but  he  proved  to  be  suffering  under  a  sudden  and  severe 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  25 

attack  of  paralysis.  Seeing  Lim  utterly  at  a  loss  bow  to 
act,  I  advised  him  to  crowd  all  the  sail  he  could  and  make 
as  expeditious  a  retreat  as  possible,  while  a  Virginian  mer 
chant,  who  had  property  on  board,  called  upon  him,  if 
flight  were  impracticable,  to  attest  his  character  as  a  true- 
born  Englishman  and  at  once  prepare  to  fight.  But  the 
crew,  including  the  cook,  numbered  only  twelve,  and  as  to 
the  others  on  board,  setting  aside  the  tailor,  who  was  a 
Methodist  and  disliked  drawing  any  one's  blood  but  his 
own;  the  comedian,  who  was  a  philanthropist  and  hated 
fighting  for  "  Nipperkin's "  reason,  "because  it's  so 
plaguey  quarrelsome,"  and  the  captain,  who,  being  a  cow 
ard,  was  no  doubt  a  philosopher  and  believed  in  "  Neces 
sity,"  there  were  only  fourteen  individuals  to  guard  our 
deck  against  at  least  a  hundred. 

But  emergencies  are  the  opportunities  of  heroes.  The 
Irishman  who  had  been  so  supine  all  the  voyage  no  soon 
er  heard  the  captain's  tremulous  remark  that  he  should  be 
compelled  to  surrender,  than  he  jumped  three  feet  from 
the  deck,  whirled  his  cap  in  the  air,  and  shouted,  "Surren 
der  be ;  we'll  sink  first,  and  then  let  him  take  us. 

If  the  captain  wron't  fight  the  ship,  I  will."  The  crew, 
who  did  not  want  for  pluck,  whatever  might  be  the  case 
with  their  commander,  welcomed  the  proposition  with  a 
cheer,  and  forthwith  proceeded  to  cast  off  the  lashings  of 
four  small  guns  which  represented  our  ordnance.  What 
all  our  heroism  could  have  done  for  us  beyond  irritating 
the  enemy  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  happily  at  this  deci 
sive  moment  the  wind,  suddenly  freshening,  gave  our  ves 
sel  a  start  which  enabled  us,  before  dusk,  to  run  the  wretch 
out  of  sight. 

On  reaching  Boston  I  met  many  London  acquaintances 
at  the  theatre  there,  who  varied  in  the  reception  they 
gave  me.  One  said  I "  had  come  too  late  by  five  years;"  an 
other  that  I  was  "a  great  fool  to  come  at  all;"  a  third 

2 


26  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

that,  as  I  "  looked  a  florid  habit,  there  was  every  chance  of 
my  being  packed  in  a  black  box  before  the  spring."  The 
better  tempered  cheered  me  in  the  way  an  army  agent 
does  a  cadet  in  war  time.  "  The  yellow  fever,"  said  they, 
"  thins  the  Green  Room  of  at  least  twenty  every  summer, 
so  that  in  a  short  time  the  field  will  be  your  own!" 
v  Boston  possessed  two  theatres,  one  of  which,  under  the 
management  of  Hodgkinson,  an  actor  from  Bath,  was  now 
open.  Its  smaller  size  as  compared  with  the  London  ones 
was  a  great  advantage  to  the  actors.  It  was  not  necessary 
to  take  the  ear  by  storm,  and  whereas,  in  London,  the 
players  were  so  far  from  the  audience  that  I  often  thought 
the  old  Greek  custom  of  wearing  masks  might  well  have 
been  revived,  here  the  naked  eye  could  thoroughly  discern 
the  play  of  countenance,  and  the  face — that  living,  burn 
ing  comment  on  voice  and  gesture,  that  flash  to  their  de 
tonation — had  its  full  effect.  Especially  was  this  a  gain 
to  the  ruling  favorite  of  the  States,  Hodgkinson,*  whose 
well-defined  features  showed  every  minutest  change  of 
thought  or  throe  of  feeling;  while  his  voice  could  be  com 
pared  to  nothing  but  a  many-stringed  instrument  which 
his  passion  played  upon  at  pleasure.  While  such  were 
his  endowments,  his  method  was  to  work  himself  up  to  a 
certain  pitch  of  excitement  which  rendered  everything  he 
said  or  did  the  direct  prompting  of  impulse.  I  can  give 
a  curious  instance  of  this. 

Though  so  great  a  favorite,  Hodgkinson  was  not  overf  ond 

*  JOHN  HODGKINSON.  Born  in  Manchester,  England,  1767.  He  first 
appeared  in  America  at  the  John  Street  Theatre,  New  York,  as  Vapid  in 
the  "Dramatist,"  in  1793.  The  next  year  he  became  manager  of  that 
theatre,  and  held  the  position  until  1798.  He  left  New  York  in  1803, 
played  in  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  elsewhere  in  the  South  until  his  death  in 
Washington,  D.  C.,  from  yellow  fever  in  1805.  He  was  good  in  every 
thing,  and  played  a  large  range  of  characters,  excelling  in  low  comedy, 
but  appearing  with  success  in  pantomime,  opera,  and  tragedy. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  27 

of  acting,  but  like  Quin,  Footc,  and  others,  indulged  a 
gentlemanly  appetite  for  the  pleasures  of  the  table  and 
the  field.  For  a  day's  shooting  I  think  he  would  have 
given  up  six  nights  of  Shakespeare.  When  he  became 
manager  (at  New  York)  his  social  propensities  obtained 
greater  scope.  He  played  but  three  nights  a  week,  and 
being  well-studied  in  every  character  of  the  "  Stock 
Drama,"  new  pieces,  which  were  not  more  than  two  in  a 
season,  were  the  only  chances  that  dragged  him  to  a  re 
hearsal. 

In  admiration  of  his  talents  a  native  of  the  city  had 
written  him  an  "  original  character,"  which  was  a  sort  of 
backbone  to  a  lumbering  frame  of  five  tragic  acts.  Per 
ceiving  that  the  studying  of  this  affair  would  absorb 
many  days,  if  not  weeks,  which  might  otherwise  be  de 
voted  to  jovial  society,  Hodgkinson  made  up  his  mind  that 
the  piece  was  too  heavy  for  representation.  The  author, 
however,  begged  he  would  read  it  and  give  him  his  opin 
ion.  This  he  consented  to,  and  put  the  manuscript  into 
his  pocket  as  he  was  jumping  into  a  boat  with  his  dog 
and  gun  to  enjoy  a  day's  shooting  at  Brooklyn.  In  the 
hurry  of  his  departure  he  had  forgotten  to  supply  himself 
with  wadding,  and  after  two  or  three  successful  shots, 
feel  where  he  would,  nothing  could  his  hand  discover  but 
the  tragedy,  which  offered  neither  fly-leaf  nor  cover  to 
satisfy  his  wants.  Never  was  sportsman  so  villainously 
baffled.  The  day  was  beautiful,  his  gun  infallible,  and 
his  dog  was  rousing  the  birds  at  the  rate  of  a  score  a  min 
ute.  He  had  now  no  resource  but  to  return  to  the  city, 
or  sit  down  and  read  his  friend's  play;  a  more  intellect 
ual  amusement  certainly,  but,  like  all  our  pure  enjoyments, 
wanting  the  edge  of  a  forbidden  one.  The  first  scene 
was  in  a  cavern — "  Enter  Antonio  and  a  Conspirator." 
Turning  over  the  leaves,  he  exclaimed,  "  Six  pages  in  a 
cavern !  what  can  they  possibly  have  to  talk  about  ? 


28  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

that  must  be  tedious."  At  this  moment  his  dog  was  set 
ting  up  his  tenth  covey.  His  eye  rolled  round  upon  the 
sport,  then  returned  to  the  book.  A  tempting  demon  was 
tugging  at  his  heart;  *  [the  conspiracy  could  surely  go  on 
just  as  well  without  all  that  dull  talk  in  a  cavern,  and  it 
would  make  so  much  more  sensation  in  a  gun  than  on  the 
stage.  Human  nature — sporting  human  nature — could  re 
sist  no  longer,  and  Antonio's  cavern  plot  was  brought 
to  light  in  an  explosion  which  resulted  in  a  heavy  nutter 
of  feathers  to  the  ground.  The  work  of  destruction  once 
begun  it  was  easier  to  proceed.  The  hour  was  still  early, 
the  game  still  plentiful,  and  more  and  more  wadding  was 
required.  "I'll  just  leave  the  other  fellows,  and  take  my 
own  part;  there  can  be  nothing  unfair  in  that,"  muttered 
Hodgkinson,  and  as  Antonio  had  been  plentifully  sup 
plied  with  soliloquies  and  long  speeches,  every  one  of 
which  in  turn  became  a  "  wad,"  by  the  evening  the  game- 
bag  wras  very  fairly  filled  and  the  tragedy  considerably 
attenuated.  But  how  was  he  to  meet  his  friend  the 
dramatist  ?  To  return  the  manuscript  in  its  present  muti 
lated  condition  was  evidently  out  of  the  question,  utterly 
impossible.  The  only  alternative,  therefore,  was  to  accept 
it,  and  trust  to  his  own  powers  of  improvisation  to  supply 
all  deficiencies  when  it  had  to  be  performed.  "  It's  odd 
indeed,"  said  he,  "  if  I  can't  speak  the  part  at  least  as 
well  as  he'd  written  it,  and,  anyhow,  the  audience  must  be 
gainers,  for  I'm  sure  to  make  it  shorter." 

When  the  night  of  representation  arrived,  although 
every  word  uttered  by  Antonio  came  fresh  from  his 
brain,  the  actor  was  so]  effective  as  to  draw  upon  each 

*  It  is  only  right  to  state  that  a  page  of  Mr.  Bernard's  manuscript  was 
here  missing :  perhaps  some  one  else  had  been  in  want  of  wadding.  As  I 
thought  the  story  too  good  to  be  lost,  and  the  beginning  and  end  made  it 
so  obvious  what  the  middle  must  have  been,  I  have  ventured  to  supply 
the  part  between  brackets. — E.  G.  B-B. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  29 

scene  a  thunder  of  applause,  and  when  he  died,  at  the  end, 
to  create  an  uproar  that  threatened  to  entomb  him  with 
the  roof.  Incredible  as  the  fact  may  appear,  I  learned 
from  a  person  who  was  not  in  the  secret,  that  there  never 
was  more  approbation  elicited  by  a  performance  in  the 
New  York  Theatre  than  on  this  occasion.  Hands,  heels, 
and  tongues  were  going  continually,  the  words  "  Fine !" 
"Great!"  "Very  considerable  spirit!"  "'nation  sight  of 
feeling!"  "Genuine  genius!"  flew  from  lip  to  lip, and  the 
next  day  the  whole  affair  was  elaborately  analyzed  and 
eulogized  in  the  papers. 

But  what  said  the  author  ?  He  sat  and  listened  to  the 
end  in  a  state  of  petrifaction.  The  fall  of  the  curtain  re 
stored  his  faculties  and  roused  his  indignation  at  a  triumph 
in  which  he  had  had  so  little  share.  Jumping  over  the 
orchestra,  he  made  his  way  to  Hodgkinson's  dressing-room 
with  the  bound  and  glare  of  a  tiger.  He  found  the  man 
ager  surrounded  by  his  satellites,  who  were  "  larding  "  him 
on  his  performance.  "Mr.  Hodgkinson!"  he  shouted; 
"  good  heavens,  sir !  what  have  you  been  talking  ?" 
"  Well,  sir!  what  ?"  asked  the  hero,  with  his  usual  invin 
cible  smile.  "Nothing  but  nonsense, sir,  d — d  nonsense!" 
"Have  I?"  he  replied,  "then  what  have  they  been  dap- 
ping  ?" 

In  the  genteel  society  of  Boston  I  could  perceive  no  dis 
tinctions  from  that  of  my  own  country.  They  wore  the 
same  clothes,  spoke  the  same  language,  and  seemed  to  glow 
with  the  same  affable  and  hospitable  feelings.  In  walk 
ing  along  their  mall  I  could  scarcely  believe  I  had  not  been 
whisked  over  to  St.  James's  Park ;  and  in  their  houses  the 
last  modes  of  London  were  observable  in  nearly  every 
article  of  ornament  or  utility.  Other  parts  of  the  state 
were,  however,  very  different. 

America  is  identified  with  progress;  whether  in  inven 
tion  or  adaptation,  in  expansion  or  celerity,  the  Western 


30  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

we  admit  to  be  the  special  field  of  movement.  We  Eng 
lish  rush  along  ourselves,  but  our  pace  as  compared  with 
Jonathan's  is  that  of  a  fast  coach  to  the  rail.  We  gallop, 
but  he  flies.  Nor  is  this  unaccountable.  If  mind  can  act 
on  matter,  matter  also  acts  on  mind,  and  the  face  of  a 
country  stamps  its  character  upon  a  people.  If  moun 
tainous  they  are  rugged;  if  flat  and  fertile  they  are  peace 
ful.  Now  America  is  not  only  vast,  and  thus  is  the  source 
of  grand  conceptions;  has  her  stupendous  lakes  and  moun 
tains  which  expand  the  soul  proportionately;  but  America 
is  also  rapid,  her  streams  are  torrents  and  her  winds  hur 
ricanes  ;  her  lightnings  sweep  whole  territories  and  her 
cataracts  leap  from  heaven.  It  is  Nature  herself  that  goes 
ahead  there,  the  very  elements  arc  at  high  pressure,  so  it 
can  scarcely  be  wonderful  that  the  people  should  catch  her 
tendency.  But  progress  must  have  its  vehicle,  a  people 
rightly  organized  to  carry  on  its  changes,  and  among  the 
various  groups  of  the  Western  world  which  has  most 
evidenced  this  fitness  ?  Why,  evidently  the  New-Eng- 
landers. 

The  settlement  of  New  England  marks  an  era  in  the 
history  of  nations.  Not  planted  to  enlarge  an  empire  or 
to  raise  a  revenue;  not  won  by  fraud  or  moated  round  with 
blood,  she  alone  can  boast  a  philosophic  origin.  She  was 
the  first  state  founded  in  the  great  cause  of  humanity.  Many 
colonies  have  sprung  from  persecution,  most  have  strug 
gled  up  to  intelligence  through  cheerless  shades  of  selfish 
ness  and  error;  but  she,  like  Adam,  was  formed  in  inno 
cence  and  formed  full-grown.  From  the  beginning,  too, 
she  was  in  spirit,  if  not  in  name,  republican;  not  only  so 
constituted  by  the  covenant  of  her  first  settlers,  but  unin 
tentionally  confirmed  as  such  by  the  charters  granted  her 
by  Charles,  which,  with  the  view  of  forming  trading-com 
panies,  not  states,  conferred  on  her  the  power  of  electing 
all  her  officers,  and  framing  her  own  laws. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  31 

In  the  brief  sketch  of  the  progress  of  society  attempted 
in  the  first  chapter  of  these  records,  the  exclusively  Eng 
lish  origin  of  this  colony,  in  contradistinction  to  the 
motley  population  of  the  South,  has  been  pointed  out  as  a 
fundamental  difference,  which  to  this  day  produces  a  gener 
al  agreement  or  nationality  in  many  social  particulars  that 
is  nowhere  else  to  be  observed,  unless  it  be  in  the  newly 
formed  Western  States,  the  offspring  of  New  England,  and 
reared  under  peculiar  local  circumstances.  Now  this  gen 
eral  agreement  appeared  to  me  to  be  productive  of  one 
great  benefit,  since,  as  in  England,  it  permitted  no  changes 
but  by  the  gradual  progress  of  opinion,  while,  as  its  pre 
cision  of  ideas  was  perpetually  at  work  sifting  the  mere 
ly  ornamental  from  the  really  excellent,  it  presented  a 
school  in  which  all  the  materials  were  collecting  for  the 
formation  of  a  substantial  public  character  that  would  be 
equal  to  the  demands  of  the  growing  interests  of  the  coun 
try.  Under  the  influence  of  this  general  agreement  the 
fathers  of  the  Revolution  had  arisen  in  New  England,  and 
the  names  of  John  and  Samuel  Adams,  Hancock,  Quincy, 
Warren,  Otis,  and  a  train  of  others  are  no  trifling  guaran 
tee  that  the  palladium  of  American  rights  will  be  found 
in  the  breasts  of  their  descendants.  Were  I  to  give  ex 
pression  to  all  I  felt  at  a  later  period,  when  admitted  to  a 
closer  knowledge  of  their  excellences,  my  language  might 
be  thought  too  highly  colored,  but  recurring  to  my  first 
impressions  as  a  stranger,  I  could  not  but  perceive  that 
New  England  contained  the  stamina  of  American  charac 
ter.  Yet  it  is  useless  to  disguise  the  fact  that  English 
feeling  towards  this  special  group  has  often  been  any 
thing  but  cordial.  Most  interested  of  all  men  in  the 
problem  America  was  solving,  the  Englishman  was  yet 
of  all  men,  perhaps,  the  least  able,  a  few  years  ago,  to  sym 
pathize  with  the  means  adopted  by  New  England  as  her 
share  of  the  solution.  He  could  not  dispossess  himself  of 


32  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

those  ideas  of 'comfort  dependent  on  a  settled  state  of 
things,  which  here  he  found  at  variance  with  a  hundred 
novelties  struck  out  by  the  rough  spirit  of  expediency. 
Nor  was  he  prepared  in  all  cases  to  make  due  allowance 
for  the  local  causes  which  had  modified  the  people's  char 
acter.  The  hard,  hilly,  broken  soil  of  the  country,  more 
adapted  for  pasturage  than  for  tillage,  together  with  its 
plenteous  woods  and  waters,  had  early  turned  the  atten 
tion  of  the  settlers  to  that  "agriculture  of  the  main,"  the 
fisheries  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  to  building  and  navi 
gating  boats  for  the  transport  business  of  the  Union. 
As  a  surplus  population  arose,  instead  of  occupying  them 
selves  with  increasing  domestic  comforts,  like  the  dogged 
and  tenacious  Germans  on  the  kindred  soil  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  a  love  of  change  and  the  alluring  accounts  of  West 
ern  fertility  drained  off  the  New-Englanders  to  break  fresh 
ground  and  become  the  pioneers  of  civilization  in  the  back 
woods;  while  another  portion  began  to  apply  their  me 
chanical  talents  and  natural  ingenuity  to  manufactures. 
Thus  fishing,  migrating,  and  fabricating  the  country, 
though  with  a  population  doubling  in  its  ratio  that  of  any 
other  of  the  states,  yet  very  slowly  assumed  that  look  of 
settled  permanence  which  so  markedly  distinguishes  an 
English  prospect.  Everything  wras  run  up  a  hurry  or 
struck  out  at  a  blow. 

My  destination   had   been  Mr.  Wignell's  *  theatre  at 

*  THOMAS  WIGNELL  was  the  son  of  a  member  of  Garrick's  Company.  He 
came  to  America  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  but,  without 
appearing  on  the  stage,  went  to  Jamaica,  and  remained  in  the  West  Indian 
circuit  for  ten  years.  In  1785  he  made  his  professional  debut  here  as 
Lewson  and  Squire  Groom  at  "The  Theatre"  (John  Street),  New 
York,  where  he  remained  until  1791.  A  few  years  later  he  opened  the 
Chestnut  Street  Theatre  in  Philadelphia,  then  the  finest  building  cf  its 
kind  on  the  continent.  In  January,  1803,  he  married  the  celebrated  Mrs. 
Merry,  dying  suddenly  a  month  later,  aged  about  fifty  years.  lie  was 
considered  without  a  rival  in  such  characters  as  Faulkland,  Joseph  Surface, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  33 

Philadelphia,  but  the  yellow  fever  having  broken  out  in 
that  city  drove  the  manager  to  New  York,  where  he  fitted 
up  a  lately  vacated  circus,  and  desired  I  would  meet  him 
at  Newport,  a  town  about  half-way.  Thither  I  according 
ly  started  in  one  of  those  longitudinal  inventions  termed 
a  "  New  England  stage,"  built  without  springs  on  the  plan 
of  an  English  covered  wagon,  to  contain  "  a  full  company," 
eighteen,  inclusive  of  the  driver.  This,  with  a  ton  of  lug 
gage  at  its  tail,  was  capable  of  being  pulled  up-hill  with 
the  speed  of  a  whirlwind  by  four  shaggy,  scrambling, 
equine  devils  that  required  neither  whip  nor  rein,  but 
seemed  to  enjoy  the  joke.  The  structure  of  this  machine, 
placing  all  upon  a  level,  exhibited  a  republican  principle 
which  as  yet  was  not  at  variance  with  a  state  of  means  by 
which  a  certain  class  require  distinct  accommodation. 
The  differences  between  it  and  the  English  stage-coach 
were  not  always  in  the  latter's  favor.  True,  it  had  no  out 
let  but  its  mouth,  at  which  it  gorged  and  disgorged  like 
some  great  Leviathan,  and  the  seats  being  transverse  and 
supplied  with  backs,  the  last-comers,  men  or  women,  had 
to  stride  over  the  shoulders  of  the  earlier  ones  to  reach  a 
seat,  for  each  being  desirous  of  keeping  as  near  as  possible 
to  the  driver,  the  law  of  gravity  was  suspended  in  this 
vehicle,  and  very  few  of  the  passengers  who  came  in  first 
found  their  way  to  the  bottom.  "When  Mrs.  Bernard  and 
myself  were  at  last  established  in  the  extreme  seat  (not 
unlike  the  back  of  the  Covent  Garden  gallery),  we  discov 
ered  that  the  floor  was  lumbered  with  a  mail-bag  and  a 
valuable  assortment  of  earthen  and  hardware  jugs,  kettles, 
fire-irons,  and  other  articles  consigned  to  a  "  store  "  in  the 
interior,  which  had  the  effect,  before  the  vehicle  had  been 

and  Darby.  Mr.  Wood  describes  him  as  a  handsome  man  of  fine  deport 
ment,  whose  maxim,  that  "good  manners  were  more  nearly  allied  to  good 
morals  than  people  generally  conceived,"  was  perfectly  illustrated  in  his 
own  character  and  conduct. 

2*/ 

1 1  ».! 


34  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

ten  minutes  in  motion,  of  dyeing  our  shins  all  the  colors  of 
the  rainbow.  The  irritation  was  perhaps  augmented  by  fif 
teen  tongues  going,  at  the  rate  of  ten  words  a  second,  upon 
politics,  commerce,  and  agriculture,  broken  by  the  coughing 
and  hawking  of  those  who  were  further  exciting  themselves 
by  cigars  and  pigtail.  But  above  all  this  storm,  like  the 
deep-toned  notes  of  a  powerful  bassoon,  rose  the  oracular 
responses  of  the  "  driver."  As  American  roads  have  not 
yet  produced  any  specimens  of  the  Old  Bailey  chivalry 
called  highwaymen,  the  luggage  needed  not  that  extor 
tionate  good  genius  the  English  "guard,"  the  indefatiga 
ble  driver  combining  the  offices  and  being  the  ministry 
in  one.  Like  the  French  monarch  he  could  say,  "  Uetat 
c'est  moi"  and  it  was  indeed  his  character  that  gave  the 
great  novelty  and  interest  to  the  vehicle. 

Every  man  who  has  travelled  in  England  must  acknowl 
edge  the  stage-coachman  to  have  been  a  very  formidable 
personage;  mysteriously  muffled  in  innumerable  yards  of 
cloth,  his  back  tiled  with  capes,  his  red  face  struggling  up 
from  the  suffocating  clasp  of  woollens  and  bandannas,  and 
but  just  visible  under  a  projection  which  seemed  to  unite 
the  uses  of  a  hat  and  an  umbrella,  he  ascended  his  box  by 
a  kind  of  divine  right.  He  was  the  autocrat  of  whips; 
the  Sublime  Porte  might  have  copied  his  manner,  his  cat 
tle  being  as  the  people  of  Turkey.  True,  as  a  proof  of 
England's  freedom,  you  were  permitted  to  sit  beside  him, 
but  this  tended  to  breed  awe  rather  than  intimacy.  Every 
one  must  have  felt  the  difficulty  of  drawing  that  august 
being  into  conversation;  even  the  profound  responses  of 
the  oracle  as  to  whether  we  should  have  rain,  or  if  the 
summer  would  be  fine,  being  broken  by  low,  mystically 
worded  objurgations  to  his  horses,  proving  how  he  was 
absorbed  in  the  science  of  government,  ready  at  any  mo 
ment  to  resort  to  coercion,  always  maintaining  a  sufficient 
check. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  35 

The  very  opposite  of  all  this  was  the  New  England 
"driver."  He  was  usually  a  thin,  wiry,  long-backed, 
leather-skinned  fellow,  sharing  the  front  seat  with  the 
company,  and  flying  in  and  out  of  the  vehicle  with  the 
crack  of  a  harlequin.  No  one  more  abhorred  a  superflu 
ity  of  clothes.  A  straw  hat  was  his  creed,  and  he  would 
often  wear  nankeens  and  shoes  in  frosty  weather.  I  can 
remember  one — a  tall  Vermonter,  in  a  village  where  I  re 
sided  some  time — who,  when  winter  was  whistling  his 
sharpest  airs,  would  stand  up  amid  a  well-clad  undergrowth 
of  travellers,  lank  as  a  leafless  elm.  Placed  upon  their 
level,  he  sympathized  with  all  his  company,  yet  not  intru 
sively.  He  was  a  general  book  of  reference,  almanac,  mar 
ket-list,  and  farmers'  journal ;  a  daily  paper  published  every 
morning,  a  focus  which,  by  some  peculiar  centripetality, 
drew  all  things  towards  it. 

I  see  nothing  of  a  joke  in  the  assertion  of  a  New  Eng 
land  driver  being  a  major  in  the  army.  Europeans  forget 
that,  in  its  European  sense,  the  army  in  America  is  not  a 
highly  respectable  separate  profession.  Butchers  there  are 
sui  generis.  Men  became  soldiers  during  the  war  because 
they  had  something  to  lose.  The  driver  was  frequently 
the  owner  of  a  farm  or  inn,  and  of  a  share  in  his  convey 
ance.  As  he  took  no  fees  (the  brand  of  slavery  in  Eng 
land)  he  was  never  regarded  as  a  servant.  As  a  rivet  to 
his  influence  very  often  the  driver  was  a  wag,  who  had  a 
joke  for  his  passengers,  perhaps  as  old  as  his  stage,  and  as 
little  likely  to  stop  running.  He  had  rambled  in  his  youth 
half  over  the  Union,  and  could  tell  you  strange  stories  of 
Indians  and  rifles,  and  planters  and  panthers,  of  deer-kill 
ing  and  horse-racing,  and  the  art  and  mystery  of  mak 
ing  mint-sling.  The  reserve  of  an  English  conveyance  is 
proverbial,  the  animation  of  the  one  in  which  we  found 
ourselves  offered  the  greatest  possible  contrast. 

The  road  necessarily  engages  the  traveller's  attention. 


36  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Though  far  better  than  in  any  other  quarter  of  the  Union, 
the  frequent  jolts  and  plunges  of  the  vehicle  brought  it 
into  sad  comparison  with  the  bowling-greens  of  England. 
Very  often  we  surprised  a  family  of  pigs  taking  a  bath  in 
a  gully  of  sufficient  compass  to  admit  the  coach.  As  often, 
such  chasms  were  filled  by  piles  of  stones  that,  at  a  dis 
tance,  looked  like  Indian  tumuli.  The  driver's  skill  in 
steering  between  these  dangers  was  eminent.  I  found 
there  were  two  evils  to  be  dreaded  in  New  England  trav 
elling — a  clayey  soil  in  wet  weather,  which,  unqualified 
with  gravel,  made  the  road  a  canal;  and  a  sandy  one  in 
summer,  which  might  emphatically  be  called  an  enormous 
insect  preserve.  Here,  as  around  the  swamps,  reigns  and 
revels  the  mosquito — lord  of  the  lance — that  Arab  of  the 
air  whose  weapon  is  against  every  man,  or  at  least  every 
stranger,  for  there  is  a  superstition  that  he  has  the  patri 
otic  instinct  to  spare  natives.  At  any  rate,  it  is  certain  no 
native  is  before  him  in  his  attentions  to  foreigners.  Ameri 
ca  has  often  been  termed  by  travellers  a  land  of  magni 
tudes,  but  I  question  whether  it  had  ever  occurred  to  them 
to  compare  the  relative  power  of  the  mosquito,  and  that 
mild  torment  of  Europe,  the  flea,  though  thousands  who 
have  had  experience  of  both  hemispheres  would  be  feeling 
ly  alive  to  the  proof;  and  if  refinement  curled  its  lip  at  the 
idea,  candor  would  compel  a  confirmatory  shrug.  Of  the 
political  influence  of  this  insect  I  had  an  illustration  in  a 
fellow-traveller,  but  lately  arrived  from  England,  and  pro 
fessing  to  be  greatly  disgusted  with  his  country.  During 
the  former  part  of  the  journey  he  had  been  continually 
railing  against  it,  but  under  the  influence  of  the  mosquitoes 
this  rancor  gradually  softened,  and  at  last  the  persistency 
of  their  stabs  forced  even  this  thoroughly  disaffected  wan 
derer  to  exclaim,  "  England,  with  all  thy  faults,  I  love 
thce  still." 

This  is,  perhaps,  the  most  appropriate  place  for  some  ob- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  37 

servations  on  him  who  plays  the  "  title-role  "  in  this  part 
of  the  States;  though  the  prevalent  absurdity  in  England 
of  calling  an  American  of  whatever  state  by  the  general 
title  of  Yankee  is  not  greater  than  the  misapplication  of 
the  title  in  America  to  all  classes  of  New-Englanders.  The 
origin  of  the  name,  indeed,  as  stated  by  Heck  Welder,  is 
the  Indian  pronunciation  of  "English" — "Yengeese" — 
by  which  appellation  they  distinguished  the  New-Eng- 
landers  from  the  Virginians,  or  Southern  people,  whom  they 
called  the  "  Long-knives."  Yankee,  however,  is  really  now 
a  term  denoting  character  rather  than  locality,  and  repre 
sents  a  certain  set  of  qualities  in  a  particular  grade  of  so 
ciety.  The  Yankee  is  a  man  of  the  lower  orders,  some 
times  a  farmer,  more  often  a  mechanic  (the  very  spirit  of 
mechanism  embodied),  and  yet  more  usually  a  travelling 
trader.  The  Yankee  is  the  Yorkshireman  of  America;  the 
same  cunning,  calculating,  persevering  personage,  with  an 
infusion  of  Scotch  hardiness  and  love  of  wandering.  Like 
him,  he  goes  upon  the  principle  that  all  men  are  rogues, 
and  like  him  he  is  instanced  by  his  customers  as  the  best 
illustration  of  the  doctrine.  He  has  the  same  talent  for 
expedients;  the  same  keen  eye  to  character  and  to  expedite 
a  sale;  the  same  want  of  nicety  in  regard  to  means,  so 
long  as  they  are  not  legally  offensive  (going  to  jail  he 
considers  not  so  much  a  disgrace  as  a  waste  of  time),  so 
that  it  would  be  just  as  appropriate  to  call  the  refined 
gentry  and  enlightened  manufacturers  of  the  County  of 
York  "  regular  Yorkshiremen,"  as  to  cite  any  man  who 
moves  in  the  respectable  circle  of  Boston  as  "a  regular 
Yankee." 

This  curious  class  of  mammalia,  the  "  Down-Easter  "  as 
it  is  often  called,  is  divisible  into  three  species — the  swap 
per,  the  jobber,  and  the  pedler,  all  agreeing  in  one  grand 
characteristic — love  of  prey — but  varying  in  many  strik 
ing  particulars.  The  swapper  claims  precedence  in  point 


38  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

of  antiquity,  his  character  and  name  being  a  direct  im 
portation  from  Yorkshire.  The  word  to  "  swap,"  mean 
ing  to  exchange,  is  still  current  there  and  possesses  a  high 
historic  interest,  some  local  historians  having  proved,  I 
believe,  that  it  was  this  peculiarity  in  the  Northern  Saxons 
which  for  so  many  years  drove  the  hordes  of  invaders  to 
the  South.  The  swapper  is  the  only  division  of  the  tribe 
that  may  be  called  stationary,  though  he  is  not  more  pe 
culiar  in  this  respect  than  in  the  mode  he  adopts  to  make 
a  fortune.  lie  thinks  neither  of  buying,  nor  selling,  nor 
\  growing,  nor  manufacturing;  the  key  to  his  El  Dorado  is 
1 — exchange.  With  most  this  practice  is  a  passion,  with 
many  a  disease;  some  are  inoculated  with  the  virus,  but 
the  majority  have  it  in  the  natural  way,  and  it  has  then 
all  the  precocity  of  genius,  with  the  tenacity  of  faith.  It 
shows  itself  in  childhood,  when  the  infant  swaps  its  milk 
for  marbles;  and  at  school,  when  the  boy  swaps  every 
thing  but  floggings.  As  his  possessions  increase  he  puts 
all  he  owns  into  a  state  of  transition;  house,  land,  and 
cattle  are  drawn  into  the  whirlpool;  even  coat,  hat,  and 
boots.  He  soon  loves  swapping  for  its  own  sake;  the 
means  becomes  the  end;  the  mere  act  and  business  of  ex 
changing  seems  essential  to  his  existence.  If  now  an 
alyzed  the  feeling  would  be  found  pure;  if  it  is  no  love 
of  lucre,  it  is  much  less  envy  of  his  fellow-creatures'  pos 
sessions;  it  is  neither  desire  of  profit  nor  of  accumulation; 
it  is  simply  the  love  of  novelty. 

The  swapper  is,  of  all  men,  the  least  affected  by  relics, 
the  least  concerned  about  memorials.  Turning  his  back 
upon  his  father's  wTisdom,  he  has  full  faith  in  the  in 
struction  and  resources  of  the  future.  With  him  every 
thing  old  is  useless,  he  keeps  nothing  long  enough  to  prove 
its  value  by  experience,  but  puts  all  his  trust  in  the  excel 
lences  of  new  inventions.  The  swapper  is  a  fine  moral 
symbol,  no  man  illustrating  more  directly  the  vanity  of 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  39 

human  wishes,  or  the  evanescence  of  all  things.  Again,  he 
is  a  moral  warning,  no  man  displaying  more  of  the  spirit 
of  a  gambler,  or  more  often  meeting  the  fate  of  one. 
Yet  his  is  a  kind  of  madness  which  ought  to  be  harmless 
from  its  singularity,  for  there  is  nothing  even  analogous 
to  it,  except  that  domestic  evil  in  England — a  buyer  of 
bargains.  Thus  he  spends  his  days  as  everybody's  agent 
or  anybody's  market.  If  poor,  he  exchanges  to  become 
rich;  if  rich,  to  become  poor;  till,  having  swapped  wealth 
for  want,  ease  for  anxiety,  and  youth  for  age,  he  at  last 
swaps  this  world  for  the  next. 

I  made  these  discoveries  principally  during  my  residence 
at  a  country-box  near  Boston,  where  my  nearest  neighbor 
was  a  specimen  of  this  class,  in  the  last  stage  of  the  dis 
order.  Every  morning  that  he  heard  I  was  at  home  he 
was  sure  to  pay  me  a  visit  in  order,  as  he  termed  it,  to 
"  make  a  trade."  Whatever  object  his  eye  rolled  upon  it 
roused  "that  one  dear  thought" — to  barter;  my  plough 
for  his  cart,  my  horse  for  his  cow,  or  my  dog  for  his  cat. 
If  I  proved  obdurate  to  the  advantages  proposed  on  one 
point,  he  attacked  me  on  another.  Not  an  inch  of  my 
property  but  suggested  some  article  of  exchange  on  his 
own  premises.  Would  I  swap  my  peaches  for  plums  ?  my 
carrots  for  cabbages  ?  I  verily  believe,  had  I  not  agreed 
to  gratify  him  on  some  occasions,  he  would  have  proposed 
to  swap  the  rats  in  our  barns,  or  the  snails  in  our  orchards. 
At  times  I  endeavored  to  soften  my  refusal  by  inviting 
him  to  dinner,  but  the  mania  still  clung  to  him  as  his  real 
hunger  and  thirst.  On  pouring  out  some  brandy  he  re 
membered  that  he  had  a  keg  at  home,  he  should  like  to 
trade  away;  and  the  sight  of  my  mutton  suggested  the  idea 
of  a  score  of  sheep  which  he  would  make  over  to  me  for 
two  oxen. 

The  appearance  of  my  friend  was  in  strict  keeping  with 
his  ruling  propensity.  His  dress  was  constantly  under- 


40  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

going  mutations  in  which  the  variety  of  colors  and  text 
ures  precluded  the  monotonous  impression  of  a  suit.  He 
was  half  nankeen  one  day,  half  leather  the  next.  Every 
market  morning  furnished  some  novelty,  particularly  in 
his  hats,  wyhich  were  enthroned  and  deposed  with  all  the 
despatch  of  Grand  Turks.  A  pair  of  homespun  trousers 
seemed  to  stick  to  him  the  longest,  though  their  history, 
I've  little  doubt,  resembled  that  which  the  Virginians  (to 
whom  a  swapper  was  a  perpetual  source  of  satire)  were  in 
the  habit  of  relating.  They  said  that  a  farmer  who  had 
not  had  a  "trade"  for  some  time,  feeling  rather  dull  one 
Sunday,  resolved  to  "  go  to  meeting."  On  his  way  there 
he  saw  a  young  man  hoeing  in  a  field,  so  he  stopped  and 
began  to  lecture  him  on  the  immorality  of  his  conduct. 
Finding  that  he  would  not  attend  to  him,  the  farmer  at 
last  bawled  out,  "I  say,  young  man,  you  won't  listen  to 
religion,  but  you've  got  on  an  awful  strong  pair  of  trousers, 
will  you  swap  ?" 

I  remember  a  pendant  to  this  from  the  same  source.  A 
Connecticut  dealer  who  was  "  down  "  with  a  fever,  in  a 
very  dangerous  state,  had  had  a  particular  medicine  sent 
to  him,  to  be  taken  four  times  a  day.  A  friend,  calling 
in,  smelt  the  mixture  and  pronounced  it  to  be  excellent;  it 
had  cured  his  grandmother.  "It  is  worth  a  dollar  a 
bottle,"  said  he.  At  these  electrifying  words  the  dying 
man  opened  his  eyes,  raised  himself  an  inch,  and  faltered 
out,  "A  dollar  a  bottle,  Enoch !  there  are  three  bottles  of 
it,  and,  if  you've  no  objection,  I'll  swap  the 
your  black  terrier."  .\ 

The  second  species  of  "Dowr^pter,"  a  jobber,  is  a 


-rtftet 
ay  fie, 


man  of  genius,  mechanical  it  may  fc;  but  still  a  genius. 
He  has  probably  been  taught  a  trade,  shoemaking  for  in 
stance,  which,  being  conducive  to  reflection,  leads  him  into 
a  view  of  the  varied  wants  of  man  from  the  foot  upwards, 
from  the  bed  he  requires  to  rest  upon,  to  the  roof  that 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  41 

must  cover  him.  All  arts  agree  in  requiring  certain  qual 
ities,  such  as  solidity,  convenience,  proportion,  and  dura 
bility,  whence  it  is  obvious  if  a  man  thoroughly  under 
stands  the  craft  of  shoemaking  (to  say  nothing  of  its 
philosophy,  the  giving  neatness  to  an  ugly  foot,  which 
will  restore  enjoyment  to  a  sensitive  mind),  he  has  a  guide 
and  handmaid  to  the  sister  arts,  a  pass-key  to  the  cells  of 
mechanism,  in  whose  works  practice  will  give  proficiency. 
Thus  he  superadds  to  his  original  vocation  carpentry, 
cabinet  and  coffin  making,  bricklaying,  and  farriery;  and 
as  soon  as  his  mind  is  sufficiently  stored  he  collects  his 
tools  (for  knowledge,  with  him,  is  action),  crams  them 
into  a  basket,  and  strides  off  to  the  Western  States,  where"" 
in  every  new-formed  settlement  he  proves  a  welcome 
visitor,  supplying  to  each  house  that  slight  assistance 
which  their  comfort  may  require.  Joking  apart,  there  is  *O 
not  a  doubt  that  this  class  of  men  are  among  the  most  \ 
useful  in  the  Union.  They  unite  to  a  rough  expertness,  in  * 
all  they  undertake,  the  temperance  and  industry  demanded 
by  the  state  of  things  about  them,  and  virtue,  in  this  case, 
meets  with  its  reward.  The  man  that  can  turn  his  hand 
to  anything,  generally  turns  everything  into  his  hand; 
his  leather  pouch  soon  exhibits  the  appearance  of  a  tumor, 
till  he  is  at  length  enabled  to  eschew  vagrancy,  buy  a  plot 
of  ground,  and  build  a  shop  in  some  fast-rising  settlement, 
which  he  opens  in  "the  general  line;"  when,  as  the  in 
creasing  wants  of  the  community  call  for  the  introduction 
of  regular  trades,  they  also  introduce  customers  to  con 
sume  his  cheese  and  bacon. 

A  jobber  is  generally  a  red-faced,  yellow-haired  man, 
with  light-blue  eyes  and  a  capacious  mouth,  dressed  in  a 
nankeen  suit  which  was  made  for  him  when  a  lad,  and 
from  whose  expressive  restrictions  his  republican  frame  is 
now  freeing  itself  at  back,  elbows,  and  waistband. 

But  the  grand  division  of  the  tribe  is  the  New  England 


42  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

-  pedler,  who,  unlike  the  last  described,  has  no  Inventive  in 
genuity,  save  in  the  art  of  puffing,  and  still  less  like  the 
first,  not  the  slightest  taste  for  swapping.  He  considers 
his  own  goods  so  much  superior  to  his  customers'  that 
nothing  but  hard  cash  can  represent  their  value.  To  buy 
cheap  and  sell  high  comprehends  for  him  the  whole  cycle 
of  human  knowledge;  the  supreme  excellence  of  north- 
country  stuffs  is  his  religion;  and  science  has  taught  him 
to  believe  that  the  world  itself  would  not  go  round  but  to 
the  tick  of  a  New  England  clock.  The  same  spirit  which 
carried  his  ancestors  into  the  backwoods  with  their  train 
of  teams  and  children  sends  him  every  spring  on  a  voyage 
~  of  discovery  to  the  South.  This  visit  is  regarded  by  the 
Southern  trader  in  the  light  of  a  visitation;  he  may  be 
truly  said  to  have  Yankee-phobia,  and  to  look  upon  a 
"  Connecticut  chap  "  as  a  commercial  Scythian,  a  Tartar 
of  the  North  whose  sole  business  in  life  is  to  make  inroads 
on  his  peace  and  profit.  He  ranks  him  in  the  list  of  plagues 
next  to  the  yellow  fever,  and  before  locusts,  taxation,  and 
a  wet  spring ;  indeed,  some  go  so  far  as  to  suppose  that  a 
shower  of  Yankees  was  the  crowning  pestilence  which 
made  Pharoah  give  up  the  Israelites. 

The  panic  they  occasion  is  not  more  from  a  terror  of 
their  cleverness  than  of  their  singularly  indomitable  spirit. 
There  is  no  getting  rid  of  them.  None  of  the  usual  similes 
of  a  burr,  or  sticking-plaster,  give  any  idea  of  a  pedler's 
tenacity;  he  has  the  gripe  of  a  crab  with  the  suction  of  a 
mosquito;  you  can't  deny,  you  can't  insult,  you  can't 
fatigue  him;  you  can  only  dismiss  him  by  a  purchase. 
Such  a  character  must  be  particularly  obnoxious  to  an 
indolent  and  relaxed  community.  A  tornado  could  not 
create  greater  havoc  in  the  ease  and  enjoyment  of  a  Caro 
linian  evening  than  the  buzzing  and  humming  of  such  a 
wasp.  In  some  places  his  mere  appearance  is  the  sound 
ing  of  a  tocsin  to  bar  doors  and  windows,  while  many  even 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  43 

double  lock  drawers,  to  prevent  a  conjuration  over  the 
counter  by  which  the  money  seems  to  leap  out  of  the  till 
into  the  pedler's  pocket.  It  may  be  amusing  to  pause  for 
an  instant  on  such  a  scene. 

Suppose  a  village  in  one  of  the  rich  Virginian  or  Caro 
linian  valleys,  clustering  round  a  road  that  climbs  up  a 
hill  so  almost  perpendicular  that  it  seems  to  realize  the 
idea  of  Jacob's  ladder.  From  the  gate  of  the  planter's 
lawn  run,  or,  rather,  stagger  off,  the  sheds  of  the  butcher, 
the  baker,  and  the  blacksmith,  terminated  by  that  arena 
for  cock-fighting  and  politics,  a  tavern.  About  sunset 
labor  has  ceased  and  the  inhabitants  are  leaning  or  lying 
out  of  their  doors,  the  cows  are  wandering  home,  the  chil 
dren  are  playing  about,  and  the  "  niggers "  are  laughing 
loud  in  the  distant  sugar-houses.  In  this  sweet  hour  of 
calm  all  hearts  are  disposed  to  indulge  in  Christian  emo 
tions.  Look  at  the  group  and  you'd  take  them  for  a  colony 
of  Moravians,  with  all  enemies  pardoned  and  all  cares  for 
gotten;  when  suddenly  a  pedestrian  is  seen  wending  down 
the  hill,  his  legs,  in  the  slanting  sunbeams,  sending  their 
shadows  half  a  mile  before  him.  By  his  length  of  staff 
he  might  be  taken  for  a  pilgrim,  but  the  sprawl  of  his 
walk  awakens  anything  but  sacred  associations.  Gradual 
ly  his  hull  looms  into  distinctness,  they  perceive  he  is  a 
long-backed  man,  with  a  crouching  head  and  loaded 
shoulders;  suspicions  are  excited;  and  at  length  one  who 
may  have  suffered  more  than  the  rest,  perhaps,  from  the 
endemic,  recognizes  its  symptoms  and  exclaims,  "I'll  be 
shot  if  it  aint  a  Yankee  !"  At  these  words  if  there  is  not 
a  general  rout,  or  springing  up,  and  banging-to  of  doors, 
it  must  be  because  their  faculties  are  prostrated  by  the  sur 
prise,  and  they  lie  spell-bound,  as  cattle  are  said  to  do  on 
the  approach  of  the  anaconda.  As  the  enemy  advances  at 
a  swinging  pace  among  them,  his  keen  gray  eye  rolling 
round  in  selection  of  a  victim,  they  remember  the  strange 


44  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

man  who  first  found  out  their  quiet  hiding-place,  and  the 
wonder  and  contempt  this  curious  species  of  fellow-creat 
ure  at  first  excited — a  fellow  who  would  neither  drink,  bet, 
nor  talk  politics,  but  kept  prying  into  holes  and  corners 
to  prove  the  extent  of  their  needs,  and  who  ultimately 
walked  away  with  all  the  silver  of  the  settlement.  What 
ever  may  have  been  their  former  experiences,  one  of  the 
number  is  a  doomed  man.  If  he  doesn't  want  a  clock 
which  ticks  loud  enough  to  scare  away  the  rats,  or  a  razor 
so  keen  that  if  you  but  strop  it  overnight  and  put  it  un 
der  your  pillow  you'll  wake  up  clean  shaved  in  the  morn 
ing,  yet — "  Sure  alive,  missis  wants  a  new  cap,"  and  he's 
got  a  small  stock,  "  jest  such  as  the  squires'  wives  wear  at 
thecamp-meetin's;"  or,"  The  young  gals  need  some  gowns," 
and  he  has  "  all  kinds  of  cotton  that  are  all  the  better  for 
bein'  turned — for  the  inside  gets  fresh  as  t'other's  wearin' 
out." 

The  " Down-Easter's"  system  of  attacking  a  stubborn 
antagonist  displays  great  generalship.  He  begins  by  rest 
ing  his  pack  upon  the  half -hatch  of  the  door;  its  numer 
ous  contents  presently  require  a  field  of  display;  nowhere 
so  fitting  as  on  the  counter  within,  if  it  be  a  shop;  he  begs 
leave  but  to  show  them;  "  Look  at  them,  mister,  they  won't 
sting  you."  The  'outworks  once  carried,  his  shot  (caps 
and  combs,  "  hankychers,"  etc.)  fly  about  in  all  directions 
and  take  deadly  effect  on  some  of  the  family.  By  a 
singular  fatality  everything  that  is  tried  on  seems  to  be 
made  expressly  for  the  wearer;  she  never  looked  so  well 
in  anything  before.  And  equally  strange  is  the  discovery 
that,  up  to  that  moment,  they  had  been  living  without  a 
solitary  convenience.  Every  one  but  the  father  perceives 
the  necessity  of  Sally  having  a  pair  of  shoes,  Enoch  a 
jack-knife,  and  the  parlor  a  timepiece.  From  the  shop 
Jonathan  fights  his  way  into  the  backroom,  and  there  his 
victim,  driven  into  a  corner,  is  beaten  into  an  acknowledg- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  45 

ment  of  his  wants  and  deficiencies,  and  the  capitulation 
that  ensues  is  a  discussion  of  their  number  and  the  ex 
pense  of  supplying  them.  When  the  campaign  is  over 
in  one  house  he  proceeds  to  another,  and  so  on  to  all 
in  succession,  till  he  arrives  at  the  tavern,  where  he 
usually  succeeds  in  trading  the  landlord  out  of  bed  and 
breakfast. 

Smarting  under  this  infliction^  it  can  be  no  wonder  that 
the  Virginians  indulge  in  occasional  vituperations,  insist 
that  the  Yankee  cheats  them  in  every  transaction,  and 
that,  however  he  may  vary  his  commodities  from  the 
traditionary  wooden  nutmegs  and  red-flannel  sausages, 
swindling  is  still  his  talent,  his  stimulus,  and  local  distinc 
tion.  In  proof  of  this  they  point  to  the  fact  that  there 
are  no  Jews  in  New  England,  the  competition  being  too 
great  for  them  to  exist. 

I  was  told  a  story  of  a  "  Down-Easter  "  mode  of  creat 
ing  a  demand  for  a  supply  which,  amid  all  the  ingenuities 
of  modern  commerce,  may  fairly  claim  originality.  One 
of  the  class  called  a  "  hickory  dealer,"  or  seller  of  wooden 
ware,  came  down  to  the  South  in  summer-time  with  a  well- 
laden  wagon,,  but  was  destined  to  encounter  a  sweeping  op 
position  in  the  yellow  fever,  which  had  commenced  business 
about  a  week  previous  in  such  a  wholesale  way  that  the 
only  wooden  ware  in  requisition  was  a  coffin.  The  ravages 
of  the  plague  were  at  this  time  so  dreadful  that  it  will  be 
supposed  there  was  a  general  tendency  to  try  the  most 
desperate  and  absurd  expedients  to  avert  it,  though  many 
such  proved  but  pioneers  to  its  progress.  This  the  pedler 
was  aware  of,  so  resolved,  as  regarded  his  own  fortunes, 
to  extract  good  from  evil.  Dressing  himself  as  respect 
ably  as  possible,  he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  up  to  a 
printing-office  in  Williamsburgh,  where,  under  an  assumed 
name,  he  had  a  hundred  bills  struck  off  to  this  effect : 


46  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

"WANTED   IMMEDIATELY, 

"  Wooden  ware  in  any  quantity  for  the  fever  hospital  at  Philadelphia, 
such  being  found  not  to  convey  the  infection. 

"By  order  of  the  Board  of  Health,  SETH  ADAMS. 

"N.B. — All  persons  are  cautioned  how  they  use  crockery,  which  is  the 
cause  of  plague  to  thousands." 

Fifty  of  these  placards  he  sent  his  boy  to  stick  round 
the  streets  of  a  village  lying  in  his  road,  where  the  fever 
had  begun  to  show  itself.  A  discovery  so  important,  so 
simple,  and  apparently  in  such  close  connection  with  a 
remedy,  created  an  instant  sensation.  The  doom  of  crock 
ery  was  pronounced.  Jugs,  bowls,  basins,  teapots,  and 
other  utensils  most  esteemed  or  necessary  were  hurled 
out  of  the  windows  in  showers.  No  grandmother's  gift, 
no  ancestor's  relic,  survived  this  fall  of  China;  the  streets 
soon  exhibited  a  series  of  domestic  tumuli,  and  looked  like 
a  pottery  after  an  earthquake.  About  noon,  when  the 
work  of  destruction  was  at  its  height,  a  wagon  made  its 
way  into  the  village,  with  a  man  vociferating  with  all  the 
power  of  his  lungs,  "Wooden  ware!"  His  arrival  was 
hailed  as  a  God-send;  a  crowd  collected  round  him  as  to 
a  magician  who  brought  talismans;  and  in  less  than  two 
hours  his  plague-averting  platters  were  all  disposed  of  at 
exorbitant  prices. 

A  more  defensible  piece  of  cleverness  was  that  of  a 
Passamaquoddy  captain  who,  arriving  in  the  port  of  Lon 
don  soon  after  the  peace,  was  inveigled  into  a  low  tavern 
by  some  sharpers,  with  the  intention  of  plundering  him  at 
cards.  Failing,  however,  in  every  endeavor  to  draw  him 
into  play,  they  drank  three  bottles  of  wine  with  him  and 
then  went  out.  The  landlord,  coming  in,  expressed  his  sur 
prise.  "Are  your  friends  gone?"  he  asked.  "My  friends?" 
replied  the  captain;  "they  brought  me  here,  but  I  don't 
know  them."  "  Ah,"  said  the  landlord,  "  I  see  you  are  not 
much  acquainted  with  our  London  blades."  "No,  I  ain't." 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  47 

"Well,  you'll  grow  wiser  in  time;  you  must  pay  the 
reckoning."  "What,  for  all  four?"  "Certainly,  for  all 
four."  "  Well,  if  that's  the  case,"  rejoined  Jonathan, 
drawing  out  a  handful  of  silver,  "  I  may  as  well  have  an 
other  bottle."  The  landlord  stepped  out  eagerly  to  get  it 
from  the  cellar,  when  the  captain,  taking  a  piece  of  chalk 
from  the  mantelpiece,  wrote  on  the  table,  "I  leave  you 
a  Yankee  handle  for  your  London  blades,"  and  quickly 
walked  off  also. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  delinquencies  of  the  land 
traders  of  New  England,  the  local  character  appears  to 
have  been  redeemed  by  their  maritime  brethren,  who  were 
among  the  most  exemplary  productions  of  the  Union.  To 
skill,  activity,  and  temperance  they  joined  the  strictest 
sense  of  rectitude,  and  as  rapidly  became  the  carriers  of 
the  states  as  they  are  now  advancing  to  fulfil  that  office 
for  the  world  at  large.  To  this  cause  must  be  attributed 
the  slow  progress  of  New  England  in  manufactures.  The 
facilities  offered  for  ship-building  by  its  wood  and  water, 
and  the  nautical  taste  of  its  inhabitants,  rendered  the  car 
rying-trade  a  more  profitable  pursuit  than  the  experiment 
of  creating  goods  for  exchange  or  exportation,  in  the 
hitherto  imperfect  state  of  their  machinery  and  the  high 
price  of  labor. 

Georgia  and  the  Carolinas,  the  most  inveterate  against 
New  England,  could  not  but  allow  the  merits  of  her  sea 
men,  even  when  they  saw  them  in  such  numbers  taking 
possession  of  the  Southern  harbors.  The  reason  was  ob 
vious.  In  the  old  times  a  Carolinian  owned  a  schooner 
worked  by  negroes,  who  finding  slavery  perhaps  somewhat 
lighter  or  more  diversified  at  sea,  made  no  exertions  to 
expedite  a  trip,  but  would  sleep  away  whole  tides  that 
had  been  in  their  favor,  and  take  so  little  care  of  their 
vessel  that  the  first  heavy  gale  blew  it  into  harbor  to  refit. 
The  Northern  coasters,  on  the  contrary,  were  principally 


48  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

manned  by  their  owners,  usually  a  company  who,  with  a 
truly  Northern  spirit,  carried  the  principles  of  a  common 
wealth  even  into  their  speculations.  This  trait,  distin 
guishing,  perhaps,  no  other  seamen  in  history,  fully  ac 
counts  for  the  vigor  and  success  of  their  exertions.  As 
an  instance  of  the  way  in  which  they  distanced  competition, 
it  was  no  unusual  thing  for  a  New-Englander  to  send  to 
Philadelphia  for  flour,  carry  it  to  the  West  Indies,  bring 
back  molasses  to  New  England,  take  the  same  to  Phila 
delphia,  and  then  undersell  those  who  traded  directly  be 
tween  that  city  and  the  islands. 

The  ingenuity  of  these  traders  fully  equalled  their  en 
terprise,  and  the  constant  good-fortune  of  some  of  them, 
whatever  the  nature  of  their  speculations,  almost  established 
the  idea  of  fatalism.  I  knew  a  merchant  of  Boston  who 
was  so  buoyed  up  with  his  successes  that  he  laid  a  wager, 
at  a  party  one  evening,  that  no  one  present  could  propose 
a  speculation  which  he  would  not  turn  to  account.  This 
being  considered  a  piece  of  gasconade  meriting  ridicule, 
one  of  his  hearers  named  a  cargo  of  warming-pans  to  be 
sent  to  the  West  Indies.  A  laugh,  of  course,  followed 
the  announcement,  but  he  seemed  in  no  way  disconcerted 
at  the  selection,  and  pledged  himself  to  fulfil  the  engage 
ment  within  six  months.  The  difficulty  of  obtaining  the 
warming-pans  was  not  trifling.  One  half  of  the  order  he 
was  obliged  to  send  to  the  English  manufacturers;  the  rest 
he  set  about  collecting  from  bankrupt  stocks  in  the  Union; 
but,  sure  enough,  in  less  than  six  months  the  freight  was 
prepared,  and  the  schooner  set  sail  for  Barbadoes  and  St. 
Thomas.  There,  such  had  been  the  negotiations  of  the 
consigner,  the  warming-pans  were  all  disposed  of  at  a 
profit,  as  substitutes  for  shovels  in  scooping  up  sugar ! 


CHAPTER  III. 

1797. — New  York.— Robert  Merj;y. — My  First  Appearance  and  Illnoss; 
Rustication  and  Curc>-^  Aspect  of  New  York ;  the  Dutch ;  the  Break 
fast-table  ;  Merchants'  Daily  Life ;  Double  Disguises ;  the  Biters  Bit ; 
Land  Speculators. — Sport. — Anecdotes  of  the  Revolutionary  War ;  Sir  W. 
Howe  and  Mrs.  Loring;  Lord  Cornwallis  and  his  Friend. — Journey  to 
Philadelphia;  a  Narrow  Escape. 

THE  first  person  to  shake  my  hand  in  New  York  was 
my  old  club  and  Green  Room  associate,  Robert  Merry.* 
When  I  met  him  on  landing  he  exclaimed,  "  Ah,  John, 
have  you  come  to  make  your  fortune  like  the  rest  of  us  ? 
Fin  afraid,"  shrugging  his  shoulders,  "  you'll  be  bit."  "  I 
plead  guilty,"  said  I;  "  but  what  in  the  name  of  Mammon 
tempted  you — you,  that  I've  heard  so  often  say  you  could 
never  live  in  America?"  "Nonsense,  John,"  he  replied, 
"you  know  that  I  always  liked  to  be  in  A-merry-key." 
Poor  fellow!  here  was  the  ruling  passion  strong  in  exile: 
he  had  given  up  home,  friends,  fame,  poetry,  pleasure, 
politics — everything  but  punning. 

My  commencement  was  hardly  encouraging.  On  the 
25th  of  August  I  made  my  first  bow  to  an  American  au- 

*  Mr.  ROBERT  MERRY  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Delia  Cruscan  school 
of  poetry — a  sort  of  anticipation  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  last  century  of 
the  affectations  of  the  ^Esthetic  School  in  the  last  quarter  of  this  century. 
It  arose  among  certain  English  residents  in  Florence  in  1785  ;  it  spread  to 
England,  where,  by  a  curious  anticipation,  its  organ  was  a  paper  called 
TJie  World  ;  it  was  crushed  by  Gifford's  slashing  "  Baviad,"  published  in 
1794.  Merry  married  Miss  Brunton  in  1792,  and  withdrew  her  from  the 
stage  ;  but  when  his  means  failed,  a  tempting  offer  from  an  American 
manager  brought  them  to  America  in  1796,  and  he  died  here  in  1798. 

3 


50  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

dicncc,  in  the  character  of  Goldfinch,  and  my  reception 
was  everything  I  could  wish;  but  on  the  second  night  of 
my  performance  (Lord  Ogleby)  I  was  seized  with  the 
cholera -morbus,  so  that  half  of  the  apparently  affected 
pains  of  the  character  were  the  spontaneous  effects  of  my 
disorder.  After  the  first  treatment  the  doctor  ordered 
me  to  go  immediately  into  the  country  and  to  take  brandy- 
and-water.  This  was  no  disagreeable  prescription;  I  fixed 
on  the  little  Dutch  village  of  Haerlem  for  my  retreat,  and 
Robert  Merry's  joy  at  having  met  with  me  was  so  great 
that  he  insisted  on  sharing  my  rustication,  remarking,  in 
his  old  way,  "  it  was  not  the  first  time  he  had  found  it  a 
pleasure  to  cheer  me."  When  thus  together  we  had  so 
much  to  remember,  discuss,  reply  to,  propose,  and  project, 
that  we  sat  up  night  after  night,  administering  plentifully 
the  doctor's  elixir,  till  in  a  few  days  I  found  myself  com 
pletely  restored,  having  experienced,  perhaps,  the  pleas- 
antest  cure  upon  record. 

I  have  termed  the  Middle  States  an  epitome  of  Europe. 
New  York  was  an  index  to  the  Middle  States.  The  one 
great  market  to  the  enterprising  foreigner,  it  was  also  a 
sort  of  Mecca  to  the  hungry  backwoodsman,  who  was 
sure  to  make  a  pilgrimage  once  in  his  life  to  yield  his 
homage  on  its  counters  to  the  gods,  Mercury  and  Mammon. 
It  resembled  a  large  fair  or  a  cluster  of  inns  rather  than 
an  abiding  city,  all  its  inhabitants  looking  like  birds  of 
passage,  with  the  exception  of  the  few  aboriginal  Dutch 
who  had  not  been  swept  away  by  the  European  flood  to 
their  yellow  brick  dwellings  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson. 
But  these  kept  themselves  distinct  even  from  the  other 
natives,  regarding  the  entire  body  as  a  variety  of  Arabs 
who  had  been  expelled  from  Europe  for  their  robberies. 
They  maintained  their  houses  like  fortifications,  their 
doors  and  windows  ever  closed  and  barred,  their  garden 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  51 

walls  armed  with  glass  bottles  in  a  bed  of  mortar,  and 
they  sitting  on  their  "  stoops  "  (the  porches  of  their  door 
steps),  so  dilated  as  not  to  leave  room  for  a  cat  to  pass, 
and  rolling  waves  of  smoke  from  their  melancholy  pipes 
to  warn  the  stranger  off.  The  Dutch  have  never  borne 
the  character  of  an  inhospitable  people,  but  certainly  in 
this  case  they  seemed  to  interpret  every  glance  a  stranger 
cast  at  their  peaked  roofs  and  comfortable  orchards  as  the 
possible  preliminaries  of  some  burglarious  attempt.  Their 
cumbrous,  ox-liko  frames,  and  drowsy,  ruminating  faces, 
as  they  crouched  in  the  stalls  of  their  "  stoops,"  arc  be 
fore  me  at  this  moment,  a  marked  contrast  to  the  spare, 
but  muscular  proportions  of  the  other  residents,  the  eter 
nal  restlessness  of  the  foreigners,  or  the  slashing,  sprawl 
ing  progress  of  the  Yankees.  The  world  seemed  to  be 
standing  still  with  the  one;  the  others  seemed  to  be  car 
rying  all  the  world  before  them. 

The  house  I  stopped  at  gave  me  a  tolerable  specimen  of 
the  varieties  of  society  now  converging  at  this  great  ex 
change,  and  enabled  me  thereby  to  solve  a  mystery  which 
had  puzzled  the  heads  of  numerous  travellers — the  multi- 
fariousness  of  an  American  breakfast-table.  Here  was  a 
French  gentleman  of  Vancien  regime  looking  melancholy 
and  mysterious,  in  a  bag-wig  and  point-lace  ruffles,  who 
had  two  cards  of  address,  the  one  styling  him  "  Marquis," 
the  other  "Dancing-master."  Here  was  an  English  agri 
culturist  just  arrived,  a  firm  believer  in  the  doctrine  of 
ready-roasted  pigs  squeaking  "  Come,  eat  me."  Here  was 
a  Kentucky  landowner,  proving  London  to  be  the  Baby 
lon  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  predicting  England's  downfall, 
in  order  to  heighten  the  value  of  his  disposable  property. 
Here  were  major-generals  from  Vermont,  walking  encyclo 
pedias  of  the  war,  and  planters  from  "  Caroliny,"  who  were 
alternately  explaining  the  free  principles  of  their  "  Con 
stitution  "  and  reading  the  description  of  runaway  slaves. 


52  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Here  were  Italians  who  had  brought  over  Fantoccini  to 
refine  the  taste  of  the  infant  country;  Germans  who  had 
come  to  hunt  out  some  distant  relatives  ;  lean  and  vora 
cious  Scotchmen  looking  as  if  they  could  swallow  the  con 
tinent  ;  and  Irish  "  jintlemen  "  of  slender  figures  and  for 
tunes,  who  having  come  to  America  to  live  cheaply,  had 
spent  a  year's  income  in  crossing  the  ocean.  To  meet 
such  a  variety  of  tastes  it  was  necessary  that  the  board 
should  do  something  more  than  merely  gratify  the  im- 
_  pulses  of  an  American  stomach.  Each  must  be  pleased, 
and  we  were  accordingly  provided  with  fish,  ham,  beef, 
boiled  fowls,  eggs,  pigeons,  pumpkin  pies,  lobsters,  vege 
tables,  tea,  coffee,  cider,  sangaree,  and  cherry-brandy! 

The  habits  of  the  New  York  merchants  reminded  me  of 
.  my  friends  at  Guernsey.  They  breakfasted  at  eight  or 
half  past,  and  by  nine  were  in  their  counting-houses,  lay 
ing  out  the  business  of  the  day;  at  ten  they  were  on  their 
wharves,  with  aprons  round  their  waists,  rolling  hogs 
heads  of  rum  and  molasses;  at  twelve,  at  market,  flying 
about  as  dirty  and  as  diligent  as  porters;  at  two,  back 
again  to  the  rolling,  heaving,  hallooing,  and  scribbling. 
At  four  they  went  home  to  dress  for  dinner;  at  seven,  to 
the  play;  at  eleven,  to  supper,  with  a  crew  of  lusty  Bac 
chanals  who  would  smoke  cigars,  gulp  down  brandy,  and 
sing,  roar,  and  shout  in  the  thickening  clouds  they  created, 
like  so  many  merry  devils,  till  three  in  the  morning.  At 
eight,  up  again,  to  scribble,  run,  and  roll  hogsheads. 
What  a  day's  work  this  would  have  been  for  a  Carolinian! 
Thus  the  New-Yorker  enjoyed  his  span  of  being  to  the 
full  stretch  of  the  tether,  his  violent  exertions  during  the 
day  counteracting  the  effects  of  his  nocturnal  relaxations, 
besides  giving  him  a  relish  to  return  to  them.  Certainly 
few  men  throughout  the  Union  worked  harder  for  enjoy 
ment. 

I  could  so  little  credit  their  daily  public  metamorphosis, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  53 

at  first,  that  I  was  guilty  of  many  unintentional  insults, 
particularly  to  two  or  three  gentlemen  who  had  taken  a 
great  liking  to  me  at  a  friend's  table.  Happening  one 
day  to  penetrate  the  mysterious  sphere  of  their  avocations, 
in  order  to  see  a  ship  get  under  way,  I  heard  a  group  of 
porters,  as  they  appeared  to  me,  shout  my  name  and  beck 
on  to  me.  This  familiarity  I  set  down  to  the  account  of 
their  nationality,  and  walked  on,  consoling  myself  in  the 
manner  of  Edgar,  that  "  Every  one  knows  poor  Tom."  A 
day  or  two  afterwards,  at  a  dinner-party,  I  observed  that 
I  thought  I  was  likely  to  become  a  favorite,  for  the  gal 
lery  people  had  patronized  me  already.  "Indeed,"  said 
one  of  the  company,  "  they  must  see  more  of  you  than  we 
do,  then.  Why,  yesterday,  when  you  were  passing  the 
wharf,  we  called  to  you  till  we  were  hoarse;  you  looked 
round,  but  you  wouldn't  return."  "  Oh,  you  must  be  mis 
taken,"  I  replied.  "The  only  persons  I  can  remember 
hailing  me  were  a  crew  of  blackguards — fellows  rolling 
hogsheads."  The  roar  this  declaration  elicited  defies  de 
scription.  "They  were  we,"  shouted  my  respondent.  I 
was  petrified.  The  laughter  went  round  the  table  in  peals, 
each  seeming  to  grow  louder  as  I  attempted  to  stammer 
an  apology  or  explain  away  my  words.  The  position  was 
not  pleasant  either  for  myself  or  the  persons  alluded  to, 
till  one  of  them,  with  prompt  good-humor,  filling  a  glass 
of  wine,  said,  "Well,  well;  Mr.  Bernard  was  not  obliged 
to  know  us  in  our  stage-clothes!"  I  was  glad,  however, 
to  change  the  subject,  by  gratifying  the  first  person  who 
asked  me  for  a  song,  and  as  this  had  the  happy  effect  of 
making  the  merriment  general,  I  had  no  doubt  that,  at 
our  breaking-up,  which  was  some  hours  afterwards,  my 
infernal  Malapropism  was  forgotten. 

The  next  morning  I  received  a  note  from  one  of  the 
party,  requesting  me  to  call  at  his  counting-house  on  the 
quay,  to  taste  some  very  superior  port-wine.  I,  having 


54  RETROSPECTIONS  OF   AMERICA. 

been  secretary  to  the  Beefsteak  Club,  the  fame  of  whoso 
port  had  reached  even  to  America,  enjoyed  a  reputation, 
which  I  believe  I  deserved,  for  a  critical  acumen  of  palate. 
Delighted  with  the  summons,  I  set  off  as  pleasantly  as  if 
a  bottle  of  the  aforesaid  were  already  harmonizing  all 
things  in  my  interior.  On  my  way,  however,  I  met  an 
other  of  the  party,  who,  learning  my  destination,  burst 
into  a  laugh  and  said  he  could  not  refrain  from  letting  me 
into  a  secret.  "You  have  mortified  our  friends  so  much," 
he  continued,  "by  that  unlucky  mistake  last  night,  that 
they  swear  you  can  only  tell  a  gentleman  by  his  clothes, 
so  they  have  resolved  to  prove  their  charge  by  playing 
you  a  trick.  They  have  dressed  up  some  carmen  in  their 
own  clothes,  and  mean  to  introduce  them  to  you  as  mer 
chants  and  great  proprietors,  not  doubting  but  that  you 
will  pay  them  every  attention.  Then  they  mean  to  take 
you  home  to  dinner,  where  all  their  friends  are  invited, 
to  hear  the  expose."  For  a  minute  or  two  the  news  over 
came  me.  I  had  entirely  forgotten  the  provocation,  and 
dreamed  not  of  such  malice.  Feeling,  however,  that  this 
was  meeting  me  too  much  on  my  own  ground,  a  plan  pre 
sented  itself  which  promised,  by  effectually  turning  the 
tables  on  my  antagonists,  to  bring  the  affair  to  a  speedier 
and  different  conclusion.  I  disclosed  it  to  my  friend,  \vho, 
tendering  his  assistance,  I  ran  home  for  a  black  wig  and 
whiskers,  a  smock  frock,  hat,  stockings,  and  other  con 
stituents  of  a  working  man's  dress  ;  then,  returning  to  his 
house  upon  the  quay,  I  speedily  assumed  them,  accom 
plishing  so  complete  a  transformation  that  he  with  diffi 
culty  recognized  me.  I  then  wrote  a  note  to  my  trap-set 
ting  friend  for  myself  to  deliver,  stating  that  business  at 
the  theatre  would  detain  me  half  an  hour  or  so,  but  that 
I  should  join  him  without  fail  the  instant  of  my  libera 
tion. 
I  found  the  conspirators  assembled  in  high  glee  and  ex- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  55 

pectation;  the  laborers,  clean-shaved  and  tricked  out  with 
profuse  finery,  seated  at  a  table  with  the  decoy-duck 
port;  my  friends  standing  about  in  the  costume  which 
had  caused  all  this  mistake,  chagrin,  and  stratagem.  Ten 
dering  the  note,  I  said,  in  the  best  brogue  I  could  assume, 
that  "I  was  told  by  Mr.  Burr-nard  to  wait  at  the  quay 
till  he  came."  Viewed  on  all  sides  by  the  party,  no  sus 
picion  was  excited,  but  my  words  suggesting  an  appre 
hension  that  I  might  interfere  with  their  hoax,  I  was  in 
vited  to  a  stool  in  one  corner,  and  some  brandy  handed  to 
me.  Now  came  my  enjoyment.  Pulling  my  hat  over 
my  eyes,  I  soon  remarked  all  the  details  of  the  scene  and 
its  points  of  contrast.  The  carmen  at  the  table,  who  cer 
tainly  had  the  best  of  the  joke,  filled  and  sipped  their 
glasses  in  fine  burlesque  of  gentlemanly  nonchalance;  the 
principal  actors  stood  in  a  group  near  the  door,  talking  in 
an  undertone,  winking,  rubbing  their  hands,  and  digging 
each  other's  sides,  till  the  fulness  of  their  anticipations 
would  ever  and  anon  overflow  in  bursts  of  electrical 
laughter,  which  rattled  the  window-panes.  Then  one  of 
the  outposts  would  shout,  "  He's  coming!"  at  which  all 
was  hushed  and  every  man  stood  to  his  gun.  The  next 
instant  the  news  was  contradicted;  then  came  another  tor 
nado  of  risibility  and  another  pause.  In  this  manner  the 
half-hour  elapsed,  and  no  Bernard.  Then  I  began  to  ob 
serve  the  quicksilver  go  gradually  down,  and  signs  of  un 
easiness  master  their  complacency.  They  sat  down,  whis 
tled,  jumped  np,  walked  to  the  door,  muttered,  "  D — n 
it !  he  must  be  rehearsing  all  Shakespeare,  I  hope  he  is 
coming."  In  a  few  more  minutes  there  was  a  dead  pause; 
the  laughs  were  all  flown,  and  they  stared  in  each  other's 
faces  with  a  sheepish  vacuity.  A  man  was  sent  in  search 
of  me,  and  one  or  two  ventured  to  suspect  that  I  had 
"  smoked  "  them.  At  this  moment  my  friend  and  accom 
plice  arrived,  and  with  a  well-feigned  anxiety  inquired 


56  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

for  me.  An  hour  had  now  elapsed,  and  their  impatience 
could  no  longer  be  controlled.  All  was  uproar  as,  stamp 
ing  about,  they  commented  on  my  want  of  punctuality 
(as  the  result  of  professional  habits),  with  the  aid  of  all 
those  emphatic  words  by  which  the  lower  orders  have  so 
materially  strengthened  the  English  language,  and  which 
they  could  not  refrain  from  pressing  into  their  service. 
The  men  were  then  told  to  leave  off  emptying  the  bottles 
and  doff  their  borrowed  plumes;  upon  which  I,  rising  up 
and  divesting  myself  of  wig  and  whiskers,  begged  also  to 
resume  my  real  character. 

The  scene  that  ensued  I  must  leave  to  my  reader's  im 
agination.  Suffice  it  that  all  my  anticipations  were  real 
ized;  the  good-humor  of  the  biters  thus  bit  returned,  and 
the  port,  a  bottle  of  which  I  had  been  invited  to  taste, 
was  not  left  till  at  least  half  a  dozen  had  set  their  gener 
ous  seal  to  our  articles  of  confederation  then  and  there 
immutably  established. 

The  most  amusing  species  of  scum  on  the  surface  of 
New  York  society  were  the  land  speculators,  who  prowled 
about  the  wharves  and  hurried,  like  so  many  alligators,  to 
pounce  on  the  unwary  emigrant.  Everybody  arriving 
with  a  ruddy,  round,  moneyed-looking  aspect  they  con 
ceived  must  necessarily  want  to  buy  land,  and  they  forth 
with  produced  a  list  of  soils,  like  a  tailor's  pattern  book, 
which  they  had  to  sell  cheap;  land  possessed  of  such  won 
derful  properties  as  would  turn  all  the  poetry  of  the  Fort 
unate  Islands  into  poor  prose,  all  the  golden  coloring  of 
Oriental  fertility  into  mere  barrenness.  It  was  capable 
not  merely  of  growing  everything,  from  a  gooseberry  to 
a  grape,  from  a  pumpkin  to  a  buffalo,  but  it  emitted  vari 
ous  kinds  of  effluvia  which  contributed  to  skill  in  all  kinds 
of  trade,  the  atmosphere  being  impregnated  with  an  in 
describable  something  which  made  a  man  cleverer  there 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Union.  One  of  their  roguer- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  57 

ies  was  to  plant  hickory-trees,  which  will  only  grow  in 
the  best  soil,  about  the  edges  of  the  worst;  the  fact  of 
their  production  being  considered  a  sufficient  guarantee. 
What  a  world  of  new  ideas  would  a  Hogarth  have  re 
ceived  from  half  an  hour's  lounge  through  the  scene  of 
their  vocation,  to  observe  the  backwoodsman  grasping  his 
victim  by  the  collar,  and  pouring  into  his  ears  a  torrent 
of  talismanic  sounds;  and  the  good,  easy,  innocent  Eng 
lish  farmer  rumbling  the  money  in  his  pockets,  and  gloat 
ing  with  his  half-unsocketed  eyes  on  the  vision  of  fairy 
land  set  before  him. 

These  worthies  were  in  the  habit  of  selling  the  same 
land  to  two  and  three  different  customers,  and  emigrat-  * 
ing  before  the  parties  could  make  a  discovery  of  the  fraud. 
But  it  was  not  to  be  supposed  they  could  have  all  this  fun 
to  themselves.  Europe  was  perpetually  pouring  over  pro 
fessors  of  the  dark  sciences,  whose  talents  ably  supported 
the  credit  of  their  birthplaces,  and  "  When  Greek  meets 
Greek,"  etc.  I  heard  an  amusing  story  of  a  Frenchman 
who  had  assumed  the  title  and  forged  the  deeds  of  a  mar- 
quisate  in  Normandy.  Meeting  a  Kentucky  man  with 
ground  to  sell,  which  had  already  passed  into  the  hands 
of  more  than  one  gull,  they  effected  an  exchange.  Which 
received  a  balance  I  don't  know,  but  the  one  took  a  voy 
age  to  France  and  the  other  a  pilgrimage  to  the  lakes, 
to  discover  the  identity  of  their  schemes. 

During  our  short  but  very  pleasant  and  successful  sea 
son  at  New  York,  Merry  was  the  constant  companion  of 
my  fishing  and  shooting  excursions,  and  he  still  proved 
that  his  spirit  was  a  true  echo  to  his  name.  And  here 
were  no  game  laws  to  tax  the  pocket  and  principles  of 
an  Englishman;  you  could  take  your  rod  or  gun,  jump  " 
over  a  gate,  and  wing  or  hook  your  victims  before  the 
door  of  a  mansion,  without  the  trouble  of  inquiring  whom 
it  belonged  to.  Here  were  no  eternal  "  Trespassers  be- 

3* 


58  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

ware!"  or  "  Spring  guns!"  to  warn  the  reader  that  a  rab 
bit's  legs  were  of  more  value  than  a  man's.  The  benev 
olent  Americans  forgave  every  man  his  trespasses,  and 
pointed  their  guns  only  at  the  enemies  of  their  country. 

In  our  rambles  we  gathered  many  laughable  anecdotes 
of  the  war.  At  a  farmhouse  where  we  dined  we  learned 
that  the  owner  had  formerly  lived  in  West  Chester,  where, 
on  one  occasion,  he  had  been  compelled,  at  the  point  of 
the  sword,  to  give  assistance  to  the  Royalists.  The  Pro 
vincials,  who  were  numerous  in  that  quarter,  came  upon 
him  the  next  day,  cudgelled  him  soundly,  and  carried  off 
his  cattle  and  all  they  could  lay  hands  on,  except  some 

winter  provisions  in  his  barn,  because  he  was  "  a  d d 

Tory  and  had  given  assistance  to  the  king."  The  day 
following  down  galloped  a  corps  of  cavalry  with  capa 
cious  bags,  and  pillaged  all  that  was  left — his  beef,  pork, 

and  gammons — on  the  plea  that  he  was  "  a  d d  rebel, 

and  had  supplied  the  king's  enemies."  There  were  some 
humorous  peculiarities  about  these  West  Chester  boys, 
who,  from  their  Jack-o'-lantern  movements  and  nightly 
annoyances  were  called  "  General  Howe's  Mosquitoes." 
The  general  at  one  time  being  short  of  provisions,  sent  a 
party  overnight  to  drive  off  some  cattle  from  Long  Island. 
The  watchword  for  the  guard  in  that  quarter  was  "  Cam 
bridge,"  and  the  password,  "  Swamp."  The  foragers 
luckily  stumbled  on  an  outpost  who  piqued  himself  on  his 
superior  caution;  a  "fellow  that  would  sleep  with  one 
eye  shut  and  both  ears  open,"  especially  on  a  foggy  night. 
Hearing  them  approach,  this  vigilant  sentinel  exclaimed, 
in  a  shrill  snuffle,  "Cambridge!"  Receiving  ho  response 
he  repeated,  "  Cambridge,  I  say!  If  you  don't  say  Swamp 
I'll  shoot!"  The  English,  subduing  their  laughter,  shout 
ed  the  word,  and,  passing  on,  before  morning  drove  off  a 
magnificent  herd. 

On  another  occasion,  when  the  levies  were  being  raised, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  59 

and  a  commanding  officer  was  hearing  the  pleas  of  exemp 
tion  (all  men  beyond  a  certain  age,  with  so  many  children, 
or  disabled  by  infirmity),  a  hale,  well-built,  active-looking 
fellow  petitioned  to  be  excused  on  the  ground  of  an  im 
pediment  in  his  speech.  "I — I — I  stut-ter,  sir."  The 
officer  stared  at  him,  and  replied,  with  some  emphasis, 

"  What  the  does  that  signify  ?  we  want  you  to 

fight,  not  to  talk."  "Y-y-yes,  Captain,  y-es,  but — but 
sup-po-pose  we — we  happen  to  be  beat,  I  should  g-g-get 
cut  in  halves  before  I  could  cry  out  qu-qu-quarter!" 

At  New  York  I  met  with  several  veteran  survivors  of 
the  Revolution,  who,  among  the  anecdotes  with  which  they 
enlivened  our  eventual  intimacy,  favored  me  with  one 
disclosure  which  I  confess  amused  as  much  as  it  startled 
me.  It  was  a  proof  of  how  ignorant  is  the  world  of  the 
little  causes  of  many  great  events.  American  indepen 
dence,  for  instance,  every  one  supposes  was  owing  to 
George  Washington,  with  some  support  from  his  country 
men,  and  a  little  assistance  from  the  French.  Nothing 
can  be  more  erroneous,  according  to  these  worthies,  by 
whom  it  was  attributed  to  a  female  patriot,  the  beautiful 
and  fascinating  Mrs.  Loring.  Seeing  the  affairs  of  the 
Provincialists  veering,  like  an  unruddered  vessel,  into  the 
suction  of  a  whirlpool,  she  conceived  the  noble  enterprise 
of  their  rescue,  by  exerting  all  her  arts  and  charms  to  en 
trap  the  affections  and  influence  the  counsels  of  that  mod 
ern  Antony — Sir  William  Howe. 

The  crisis  of  affairs  in  1770  is  well  known.  England 
had  landed  an  army  in  Canada  under  Burgoyne,  and  an 
other  at  New  York  under  Howe,  with  one  grand  plan  of 
action;  the  junction  of  the  two  on  the  banks  of  the  Poto 
mac,  with  the  consequent  pitching  of  Washington,  Lee, 
Gates,  Green,  cum  multis  aliis,  into  that  stream;  and  then, 
the  stately  march  of  this  force  to  the  South,  to  brush  the 
rest  of  the  insurgents  from  the  face  of  the  earth  like  so 


60  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

many  mosquitoes.  Everything  seemed  to  favor  this  proj 
ect.  The  Independents  were  beaten  in  all  quarters,  and 
Washington,  their  last  stay,  was  permitted  to  stay  no 
where.  Dislodged  from  White  Plains,  he  had  retreated 
to  Bound  Brook  on  the  Delaware.  Then  what  was  the 
course  General  Howe,  with  his  thirty  thousand  regularly 
fed  veterans,  was  expected  to  pursue  ?  Every  corporal 
exclaimed,  "  Drive  the  enemy  from  their  entrenchments 
on  the  river,  to  keep  open  the  water  communication  with 
Burgoyne  "  (no  alarming  task,  considering  that  the  Amer 
ican  force  was  under  ten  thousand),  "and  then  march  di 
rect  to  Philadelphia."  This  was  the  pivot  on  which  the 
fortunes  of  the  struggle  turned.  But  what  did  Mark  An 
tony  ?  He  ordered  his  men  to  get  on  board  ship  and  pro 
ceed  to  Philadelphia  via  the  Delaware.  This  was  trans 
porting  them  indeed,  but  with  fury!  The  consequences 
were  foreseen.  The  Hudson  remaining  closed,  Burgoyne, 
after  kicking  Arnold  out  of  Canada,  was  obliged  to  sur 
render  for  want  of  supplies;  Howe  was  driven  back  to  his 
old  position;  and  Cornwallis  was  eventually  surprised 
into  the  same  predicament  as  Burgoyne.  What  could 
have  led  the  general  to  the  above  perverse  and  fatal  pref 
erence  has  been  a  matter  of  much  speculation  to  states 
men  and  soldiers.  It  need  be  so  no  longer,  when  they 
learn  that  Mrs.  Loring,  being  at  this  time  in  as  critical  a 
condition  as  the  country,  required  the  benefit  of  sea-air, 
and  her  wish  was  law! 

Cornwallis,  the  ablest  officer  of  the  war,  was  certainly 
much  hampered  by  local  circumstances,  but  he  wasted  his 
time  in  attempting  to  conciliate  the  planters  and  stimulate 
their  negroes,  the  latter  being  as  unconscious  of  the  value 
of  their  liberty  as  the  former  were  alive  to  it.  An  anec 
dote  was  related  of  him  which  attests  the  true  English  no 
bleman.  He  had  a  friend  in  Virginia,  a  Colonel  Vanhorn, 
who,  throughout  the  struggle,  had  appeared  to  favor  the 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  61 

royal  cause.  This  gentleman  was  yet  a  personal  friend 
of  General  Lincoln,  who  had  been  sent  to  the  South  to 
keep  Cornwallis  at  bay.  Lincoln,  unable  to  restrain  early 
feelings,  was  rash  enough  to  pay  the  Virginian  a  visit  in 
cognito;  but  the  secret,  by  some  means,  reaching  the 
camp,  which  was  not  very  distant,  the  earl  ordered  out  a 
party  of  dragoons  and  surrounded  the  house  just  as  the 
American  general  was  sitting  down  to  his  coffee.  He  had 
scarce  time  to  spring  up-stairs  before  Cornwallis  entered 
the  breakfast-room,  and,  by  the  dismay  on  every  counte 
nance,  perceived  the  truth  of  the  report.  With  great 
mildness,  taking  Colonel  Vanhorn's  hand,  which  shook  as 
if  palsy-struck,  "  My  good  friend,"  said  he,  "  what  would 
you  say  if,  after  our  intimate  acquaintance,  I  should  bring 
a  bear  here  some  morning  to  break  your  glasses  and  chairs, 
to  tear  your  carpet,  and  root  up  your  garden  ?  You  would 
execrate  my  barbarity.  Is  it  kind,  then,  of  you  to  harbor 
a  man  who  has  come  to  thwart  my  designs,  and  bring  the 
cause  I  am  engaged  in  to  confusion  and  ruin  ?  I  see  where 
he  has  sat,  but  your  house  is  sacred,  I  will  not  interrupt 
his  breakfast;  let  him  make  a  hearty  one,  but  I  trust  he 
will  have  finished  it  before  two  o'clock,  because  I  intend 
then  to  return  and  do  myself  the  pleasure  of  dining  with 
you."  He  then  paid  his  respects  to  the  family,  mounted 
his  horse,  and  rode  off  with  his  party.  It  is  hardly  neces 
sary  to  add  that  Lincoln's  breakfast  terminated  his  visit, 
and  that,  on  the  earl's  return,  no  allusion  was  made  to 
him. 

The  yellow  fever  having  vacated  Philadelphia  at  the 
setting-ill  of  winter,  Wignell  made  preparations  for  our 
approach,  and  Merry,  Morris,*  and  myself,  with  our  re- 

*  OWEN  MORRIS.  Was  the  earliest  performer  of  comic  old  men  in 
America.  Mr.  Ireland  believes  him  to  have  played  at  Cruger's  Wharf 
Theatre,  New  York,  as  early  as  1759.  lie  remained  upon  the  stage  for 


62  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

spectivc  spouses,  engaged  a  small  four-horse  coach  to  con 
vey  us  to  the  Western  Athens.  Our  enjoyment  of  this 
ride  was  interrupted  by  an  event  which  had  nearly  proved 
a  very  awful  coincidence.  On  crossing  the  ferry  at  Tren 
ton,  in  one  of  those  flat-bottomed,  low-sided,  Dutch  boats 
called  scows,  Morris  began  to  relate  the  circumstance  of 
having  lost  his  first  wife  in  this  river  some  twenty  years 
before,  through  the  fore-horses  of  the  stage  taking  fright, 
leaping  over,  and  dragging  the  coach  after  them;  the  ra 
pidity  of  the  tide  and  the  weight  of  the  vehicle  sending  it 
to  the  bottom  with  more  than  half  the  passengers.  He 
had  scarcely  concluded  this  horrifying  narration  when  the 
square  sail  of  the  boat,  flapping  suddenly  in  the  leaders' 
faces,  like  a  shot  over  they  instantly  sprang,  and,  but  for 
the  dexterity  of  the  blacks  in  cutting  their  traces,  there  is 
not  a  doubt  we  should  have  shared  the  fate  we  had  just 
heard  described. 

many  years,  and  died  in  New  York  in  1809,  when,  according  to  W.  B. 
Wood,  lie  was  eighty-four,  and  according  to  Dunlap  ninety  years  of  age. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

1797-8. — Philadelphia;  Babylon  its  Prototype. — Quakers. — Traditions  of 
Penn. — Philadelphia!!  Society. — Street-washing. — Sir  John  Oldmixon. — 
Introduction  of  Quadrille. — Discovery  of  a  Portrait  of  Quin. —  Cac.  scrib., 
the  Philadelphian  Epidemic. — My  Partnership  Play. — Merry's  Prophetic 
Pun. — Fennell,  his  Eccentricities  and  Career. — Sanguinary  Expedient  in 
Macbeth. — Dr.  Franklin,  his  Influence. — Opposition  to  "Bustles." — An 
Explanatory  Note. — Best  Souvenir  of  a  Lady. — A  Great  Calf. — A  Model 
Foot. 

DEAN  PRIDEAUX,  in  his  "Scripture  Commentaries,"  says 
that  Penn  laid  out  the  city  of  Philadelphia  upon  the  lines 
of  Babylon,  a  fact  which  speaks  as  much  for  the  good 
sense  of  the  worthy  Quaker  as  for  his  love  of  order.  Many 
would  have  considered  that  regal  nest  of  idolatry  an  in 
auspicious,  and  even  profane,  prototype  for  a  city  which 
was  meant  to  be  the  shrine  of  a  true  faith;  but  Penn  re 
garded  it  as  a  goodly  vessel  that  had  been  polluted,  and  per 
ceived  the  harmony  that  would  subsist  between  the  prin 
ciples  of  his  brethren  and  a  place  of  straight  ways.  A 
pleasing  modification  of  the  plan  was  his  dispensing,  in 
this  "temple  of  peace,  not  power," -with,  the  gates  and 
walls  of  the  original;  and  blending  the  city  writh  the 
forest.  Not  only  do  trees,  lining  the  streets  of  a  town, 
conduce  to  health  by  purifying  the  air  and  affording 
shelter  from  heat,  but  there  is  something  peculiarly  beau 
tiful  in  thus  introducing  the  works  of  the  Creator  amid 
those  of  man,  and  establishing  in  the  abode  of  traffic  the 
groves  sacred  to  meditation. 

The  Quakers  were  to  Philadelphia  what  the  Dutch  were 
to  New  York,  but  they  wTere  a  far  more  interesting  race. 


64  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

As  they  silently  stole  along  at  twilight  in  their  plain  garb, 
under  the  shade  of  their  ancient  trees,  casting  sad  glances 
at  the  motley  multitude  around  them,  they  looked  like 
spirits  of  their  forefathers  come  to  sigh  over  the  dwellings 
they  could  no  longer  defend  from  the  unhallowed  tread 
of  the  stranger.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  a  people  so 
distinguished  for  many  virtues,  should  exhibit,  ordinarily, 
such  a  repugnance  to  cultivate  their  mental  faculties. 
One  would  think  they  believed  that  because  Christianity 
was  first  promulgated  in  times  of  barbarism,  such  a  state 
must  be  essential  to  its  continuance.  Penn,  Green,  and 
Benezet  were,  however,  brilliant  exceptions,  and  to  the 
general  credit  of  the  sect  we  must  place  their  early  aboli 
tion  of  slavery  and  their  treatment  of  the  Indians. 

My  friend,  Judge  Kelly,  of  Annapolis,  related  to  mo 
two  or  three  traditions  of  Penn  which  prove  that  his  prac 
tical  application  of  religion  was  the  truest  policy.  Nearly 
all  his  fellow-adventurers  fell  into  the  most  contradic 
tory  mistakes  respecting  the  character  of  the  Indian;  they 
gave  him  credit  for  peculiar  ingenuity  in  devising  strat 
agems  and  tortures,  but  denied  him  sufficient  sense  to 
test  the  white  man's  professions  by  his  acts.  They  would 
never  have  thought  of  breaking  up  a  frozen  stream  with 
spade  and  pickaxe,  instead  of  waiting  till  spring  sunshine 
should  thaw  and  melt  it,  yet  could  not  apply  the  same 
principle  in  dealing  with  their  fellow-creatures;  or  sco 
that  retaliation  had  been  the  cause  of  the  Indian's  ferocity; 
that  blood  for  blood  was  his  creed,  and  if  the  white  man 
adopted  it,  he  only  confirmed  the  redskin  in  a  more  dead 
ly  hatred,  by  showing  the  hypocrisy  of  his  own  preten 
sions.  To  subdue  the  Indian  it  was  necessary  to  excite 
either  his  love  or  his  fear.  The  means  of  conciliation 
were  many;  to  show  respect  for  his  rights,  faith  in  his 
honor,  attention  to  his  comfort;  it  was  but  in  one  way 
that  the  brave  fellow  could  be  intimidated,  viz.,  by  a  dex- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  65 

terotis  use  of  his  religious  impressions.  In  the  latter  re 
spect  Penn  was  as  sagacious  as,  in  the  former,  he  was 
benevolent.  On  one  occasion  the  chief  of  a  tribe,  who 
had  come  to  form  an  alliance  with  the  u  Children  of  the 
Rising  Sun,"  committed  some  theft,  which  being  observed 
by  another  Indian,  he  reported  it  to  the  governor,  and 
pointed  out  how  ample  were  his  means  of  retaliation. 
Penn  replied,  "  I  will  take  from  him  only  what  is  mine  own. 
When  the  redskin  robs  the  white,  he  thinks  the  white 
man  is  his  enemy;  his  mind  is  in  a  cloud:  the  white  man 
cannot  rob  the  red,  because  Maneto  has  told  him  that  all 
men  are  his  brothers."  The  wondering  listener  was  so 
impressed  with  this  goodness  that,  determined  Penn  should 
be  no  loser  by  it,  he  pursued  the  culprit  and  himself  en 
forced  restitution.  Another  time  the  offence  was  more 
serious;  a  party  from  a  tribe,  not  in  Penn's  alliance,  had 
fallen  suddenly  on  a  settlement  up  the  Susquehanna,  and 
nearly  reduced  it  to  ashes.  One  of  the  assailants  having 
been  seized,  he  was  confined  for  the  night  in  the  strong 
room,  and  at  daybreak  the  allies  assembled  to  witness,  as 
they  expected,  his  execution.  When  Penn  took  his  seat, 
he  thus  addressed  the  prisoner:  "Red  man,  I  have  been 
all  night  inquiring  of  the  Good  Spirit  how  I  should  deal 
with  you.  Maneto  said  to  me,  '  Take  your  choice !  he  has 
burned  your  huts  and  killed  your  sons  and  brothers;  if  he 
dies,  his  blood  is  but  a  few  drops  for  a  mighty  stream; 
but  if  he  goes  back  to  his  tribe  Maneto  himself  will  send 
down  the  thunder  and  lightning,  and  raise  the  great 
waters  to  sweep  off  his  villages.'  Red  man,  go  back  to 
your  tribe.  Maneto's  hand  shall  do  justice  to  the  white 
man  !"  The  Indian  departed,  but  his  alarmed  people  very 
soon  came  to  offer  reparation.  Thus  Miquon  (the  good 
man),  as  Penn  was  called,  enjoyed  a  reputation  and  tran 
quillity  which  are  the  best  proofs  that  Indians  are  not 
wanting  in  either  honor  or  gratitude.  In  honorable  jux- 


66  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

taposition  with  Perm  stand  the  patriot  Green  (the  only 
instance  of  a  fighting  Quaker  upon  record),  and  the  phi 
lanthropist  Benezet  (the  American  Howard),  a  man  whose 
life  was  one  long  series  of  benefits  to  the  community, 
while  his  death  earned  an  epitaph  which  a  monarch  might 
be  proud  of,  that,  "  He  never  made  the  world  mourn  till 
it  lost  him."  Such  instances  only  deepen  our  regret  that 
the  sect  should,  as  a  rule,  suffer  their  prejudices  to  hinder 
the  fulfilment  of  their  duties  to  society.  What  could  be 
more  absurd  than  their  refusing  supplies,  during  the  war, 
to  the  men  who  were  defending  their  homes  from  spolia 
tion! 

Certainly  Philadelphia  laid  no  claim  to  the  character 
of  the  Western  Athens  until  the  shackles  of  Quakerism 
were  broken  by  the  Revolution,  in  the  ferment  of  which 
event  social  prejudices  evaporated,  and  an  intelligent  lib 
erality  was  established.  Thus  the  better  part  of  Phila- 
delphian  society  presented  one  of  the  most  agreeable  ad 
mixtures  I  had  ever  met  with,  having  all  the  ease  and 
animation  one  could  desire,  with  a  sufficient  tinge  of 
thoughtfulness  to  give  decorum  and  dignity.  A  vein  of 
inquiry  pervaded  conversation,  which  was  enlivened  by  a 
perpetual  flow  of  anecdote.  The  native  was  as  eager  to 
test  the  excellence  of  its  institutions  by  a  comparison  with 
those  of  Europe  as  the  stranger  was  to  explore  the  re 
sources  and  realize  the  grandeur  of  the  New  World;  and 
so  general  was  the  spirit  of  concession  and  of  bonhomie 
that  one  never  met  with  an  arrogant  assumption,  or  the 
obtrusion  of  an  offensive  prejudice;  a  wider  and  higher 
philanthropy  than  that  which  induces  love  of  country 
seeming  to  prompt  every  one  to  wish  for  the  general  good. 
This  might  be  attributed  to  the  growing  taste  for  litera 
ture,  establishing  on  the  ruins  of  bigotry  and  ignorance 
that  republic  of  letters  whose  influence  constantly  tends 
to  impart  to  political  institutions  its  own  catholicity. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  67 

I  soon  noticed  that  one  of  the  external  characteristics  - 
of  the  Philadelphian  was  a  short-stepping  fidgetiness  in 
the  streets,  which,  since  his  broad  pavements,  in  direct 
lines,  offered  every  inducement  to  a  firm,  easy  pace,  seemed 
rather  mysterious.  The  cause  was  peculiar.  It  was  a  cus 
tom  here  to  wash  the  steps  and  pavement  every  sum 
mer  evening,  not  so  much  to  cleanse  as  to  cool  them  (for 
they  rivalled  the  bottoms  of  bakers'  ovens);  to  perform 
which,  the  maidens  stood  in  a  line  along  the  passages, 
handing  buckets  from  a  reservoir,  while  the  most  athletic 
undertook  the  task  of  discharging  the  mimic  Niagara  over 
her  subjacent  domain.  Now  had  it  been  the  fate  of  the 
President  himself  to  have  passed  at  this  moment,  he  would, 
to  a  certainty,  have  cheated  the  thirsty  stones  of  their 
due;  and  had  he  made  any  complaint,  doubtless  the  fair 
Sabrina  would  have  told  him  that  she  considered  her  of 
fice  to  be,  like  his  government,  no  respecter  of  persons, 
and,  as  a  true  patriot,  she  regarded  his  health  but  as  dust 
in  the  balance,  when  weighed  against  that  of  the  city. 
Thus  the  inhabitants,  accustomed  to  this  visitation,  con 
tracted  a  habit  of  perpetual  suspicion;  as  they  passed 
along  their  eyes  glanced  around,  vigilantly  as  an  Indian's 
in  a  thicket,  and  their  limbs  exhibited  an  elasticity  as  if 
prepared  on  the  shortest  notice  to  "jump  the  bucket."  In 
this  respect  all  the  citizens  were  Quakers,  though  none 
wished  to  become  wet  ones.  Never — until  after  one  or 
two  damping  hints  as  to  its  necessity,  I  had  adopted  this 
fatiguing  precaution — did  I  understand  the  meaning  of 
the  term  Jiag-stoues.  The  Philadelphian  was  said  to  be 
recognizable  in  New  York  and  Boston  by  his  air  of  ap 
prehension,  and  thus  exposed  himself  to  the  sarcasms  of 
his  companions;  while  the  residents  of  those  cities,  accus 
tomed  to  tread  their  own  rugged  pavements  with  a  happy 
fearlessness,  carried  their  system  with  them  when  visiting 
Philadelphia,  and  received  the  balance  at  the  hands  of  the 


68  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

housemaids.  I  remember,  in  particular,  one  victim  to  this 
evil,  a  Frenchman,  who,  having  landed  from  Paris  with  a 
full  cargo  of  independence,  vainly  endeavored  to  defy  the 
custom.  Arrayed  in  his  newest  flowered-silk  waistcoat 
and  satin  breeches,  he  was  sauntering  along,  snuff-box  in 
one  hand,  and  swinging-cane  in  the  other,  to  pay  a  visit, 
when,  at  the  corner  of  a  street,  he  received  a  heavy  shower- 
bath.  Shocked,  saturated,  and  ensavaged,  he  sacred, 
kicked  higher  than  Vestris,  and  shook  his  dripping  wig 
like  a  Fury;  but  neither  pity  nor  apology  could  he  obtain 
from  the  offender.  Deeming  it  an  attack  on  the  liberty 
of  the  subject,  he  brought  an  action  against  the  master  of 
the  house  to  recover  the  value  of  his  clothes,  but,  the 
court  deciding  against  him,  he  only  lost  another  suit  by 
this  experiment.  He  then  appealed  to  the  newspapers, 
and  demanded  if  America  could  be  called  the  land  of 
freedom  while  servants  were  permitted  to  bespatter  their 
superiors  with  impunity;  which  was  answered  by  the  fol 
lowing  jeu  cV  esprit  : 

"LIBERTY  AND  EQUALITY. 

"  John  Tomluns,  standing  at  his  door, 
Spit  on  Jem  Dykes,  who  passed  before. 
'  Sir,'  exclaimed  Jem,  in  furious  fit, 
1  When  I  pass  by  how  dare  you  spit  ?' 
'  Sir,'  replied  John,  with  equal  brass, 
'When  I  would  spit,  how  dare  you  pass?'" 

It  was  amusing  to  notice  the  different  impressions  the 
city  made  upon  visitors,  showing  how  much  habit  has  to 
do  with  taste.  "  How  do  you  like  Boston  ?"  said  an  Ameri 
can  to  an  Englishman,  who  had  just  arrived.  "  Extreme 
ly;  it  resembles  London.  The  streets  are  not  very  wide, 
very  straight,  or  very  clean,  but  I  always  prefer  a  careless 
irregularity.  If  there  are  any  good  views  or  fine  build 
ings  you  are  sure  to  enjoy  them  more  because  you  come 
upon  them  suddenly."  "  How  do  you  like  Boston  ?"  said 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  69 

a  resident  to  a  Philadelphia!!.  "  Its  society  very  much, 
but  really  you  should  do  something  to  improve  your 
thoroughfares.  Your  streets  are  so  crooked  and  dirty  my 
mind  is  perpetually  on  the  rack  to  fincl  my  way  and  keep 
my  boots  clean."  The  Londoner  and  the  Bostonian  walk 
ing  through]  Philadelphia  alike  exclaim,  "  The  town  is 
very  clean,  very  well  paved,  and  very  open ;  no  disorder, 
even  after  midnight ;  but  what  sameness,  how  fatiguing 
to  the  eye  !  no  variety !  no  surprises  !  Go  up  one  street, 
and  you  have  seen  the  city !" 

I  made  my  debut  at  Philadelphia  in  two  of  my  London 
characters,  at  the  handsome  theatre  built  on  the  model  of 
Covent  Garden,  to  contain  about  £280;  and  the  principal 
scenery  of  which  had  been  painted  from  designs  by  Louth- 
erbourg,  and  imported  with  the  wardrobe.  I  was  not  more 
pleased  with  my  success  than  at  the  enjoyment  opened  to 
me  in  private  circles  by  the  introductions  of  my  London 
friends,  facilitated  by  some  club  acquaintances  who,  luck 
ily  happening  to  be  over  here  on  business,  did  not  fail  to 
make  known  the  glories  of  my  convivial  career.  Among 
others  I  encountered  my  old  Bath  patron,  the  stage  origi 
nal,  Sir  John  Oldmixon ;  but  so  mournfully  changed  that, 
had  he  not  introduced  himself,  I  never  should  have  rec 
ognized  him.  I  had  left  him  the  most  elegant  person  in 
the  most  elegant  city  of  England,  the  centre  of  its  admi 
ration,  revelling  in  enjoyment.  I  found  him  in  a  distant 
country,  skulking  about  the  streets  in  a  threadbare  suit, 
his  hat  venerable,  his  hair  unpowdered;  he  had  lost  his 
elasticity  and  erectness,  his  teeth  were  broken,  his  face 
wrinkled ;  ten  years  had  made  him  an  old  man  as  well  as 
a  poor  one.  I  lived  to  see  him  sunk  still  lower,  driving  a 
little  cart  into  the  streets  of  Philadelphia  laden  with  vege 
tables,  which  he  sold  at  the  doors  of  his  acquaintance,  for 
his  subsistence.  "  Sic  transit" 

I  made  some  return  for  the  kindnesses  I  everywhere  re- 


70  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

.ceived,  for  I  became  a  public  benefactor,  as  the  trans 
planter  of  an  elegant  recreation  and  the  reviver  of  a  taste 
for  the  fine  arts.  Noticing  in  a  shop-window  the  materials 
for  quadrille,  on  inquiring  the  price  I  discovered  that  the 
owner  was  ignorant  of  their  use;  the  fish  he  sold  by  the 
dozen  to  accommodate  loo  players,  and  the  boxes  in  pairs 
to  any  who  would  have  them.  Mentioning  this  to  my 
friends,  I  found  that  there  was  not  such  a  thing  as  a  quad 
rille  player  in  the  city  !  Pitying  from  the  depth  of  my 
soul  this  Cimmerian  darkness,  and  giving  way  for  the  first 
time  to  the  belief  that  these  people  were  but  savages  in 
European  clothes,  I  lost  a  night's  rest  in  endeavoring  to  form 
some  plan  for  their  enlightenment.  At  a  party  next  even 
ing  I  disclosed  my  wishes,  and  was  fortunate  enough  to 
find  three  individuals  who  were  willing  to  be  rescued  from 
their  ignorance,  and  devote  the  next  month  to  my  instruc 
tions.  Blest  with  proper  tastes,  they  soon  attained  pro 
ficiency,  and  before  the  winter  was  over  my  academy  had 
so  enlarged  that  I  beheld,  among  the  other  lights  of 
the  closing  century,  quadrille  radiating  throughout  the 
"  Western  Athens." 

My  next  achievement  was  yet  more  important.  Having 
taken  a  fancy  to  an  arm-chair  at  an  auctioneer's  I  walked 
into  his  store  to  bid  for  it,  when  I  was  struck  with  an  old 
portrait  .lumbered  among  others  in  a  corner,  which  seemed 
to  me  a  familiar  face  that  only  wanted  washing.  I  always 
had  a  fondness  for  paintings,  and  having  paid  pretty  dear 
ly  for  the  indulgence,  considered  I  had  a  right  to  set  up 
for  a  taste.  I  accordingly  extracted  the  picture,  dusted 
it,  placed  it  in  a  proper  light,  and  fell  into  a  reverie. 
The  broker,  delighted  to  see  his  most  unsalable  article 
make  an  impression,  exclaimed,  "Will  'ee  buy  that  pictur', 
sir?  I'll  sell  it  cheap.  Cover  a  good  bit  of  wall;  it's 
Josephus,  sir."  "Who?"  said  I.  "Josephus,  the  old 
Jewish  ginral,  or  lawyer,  or  priest,  or — summut  in  the 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  71 

way  of  our  Mr.  Jefferson.  Here's  his  history  in  folio; 
you  shall  have  the  lot  for  ten  dollars."  Forgetting  the 
object  of  my  visit,  I  ordered  them  home,  and  on  cleaning 
the  picture  found  it  to  he  a  capital  likeness  of  Quin  in 
Falstaff  !  so  good  a  painting  that  it  was  worth  a  hundred 
dollars  in  America.  On  disclosing  this  intelligence,  a  gen 
eral  rush  was  made  by  my  acquaintances  to  the  broker, 
who  got  more  for  the  rest  of  his  old  canvas  than  if  it  had 
been  real  gobelin  tapestry. 

I  believe  it  has  been  denied  that  that  ancient  disorder, 
the  disease  of  writing  (cac.  scrib. — "Mat.  Med."),  is  infec 
tious  ;  though  many  philosophers  have  classed  it  with 
yawning,  bad  habits,  and  the  yellow  fever;  yet  on  no 
other  ground  can  I  account  for  my  becoming  a  victim.  I 
had  had  one  or  two  attacks  in  England,  which  had  passed 
off  harmlessly  enough,  and  left  not  the  slightest  evidence 
by  which  the  world  could  have  detected  it.  But  I  had 
come  to  a  city  where  it  might  truly  be  styled  the  epi 
demic.  Every  one  was  seized  with  it,  and  the  literary 
physicians,  who  tried  to  check  the  inflammation  with  cold 
water  or  wet  blankets,  were  so  inefficient  that,  on  the 
smallest  computation,  a  hundred  subjects  a  day  must  have 
yielded  to  the  attack.  But  my  danger  was  enhanced  by 
my  associating  with  the  most  infected  person  in  the  city, 
Robert  Merry,  whose  fits  were  more  long  and  violent  than 
ever.  The  amount  of  ink  he  spilled  over  paper  is  incredible; 
one  would  have  thought  he  supplied  ammunition  to  all  the 
magazines  in  Europe.  Considering  all  these  circumstan 
ces,  it  can  be  no  wonder  that  I  woke  one  morning  with  a 
confirmed  cac.  scrib.  The  first  symptom  I  displayed  was 
commencing  a  novel,  after  the  manner  of  Smollet  (my 
reader  may  surmise  how  far  off),  when,  having  brought 
my  hero  through  the  sorrows  of  childhood,  and  saved  him 
from  imminent  peril  by  sea,  I  put  him  in  the  fire;  a  mode 
by  which  many  scribes  have,  like  the  Israelites  of  old, 


72  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

consecrated  their  offspring  to  Moloch.  My  next  attempt 
was  a  history  of  the  stage,  but  my  troubles  came  on  with 
King  Charles's.  I  saw  all  my  heroes  fighting  his  battles 
instead  of  Shakespeare's,  so  stern  Oliver  Cromwell  finished 
us  together.  After  these  paroxysms  my  efforts  degener 
ated  into  mere  drivel.  I  essayed  plays  and  farces  out  of 
number,  but  my  first  acts  were  my  last,  and  my  drawers 
became  filled  with  skeletons  that  I  never  had  temper  or 
talent  to  put  flesh  upon.  One  day  I  was  in  fine  spirits, 
but  the  sky  was  cloudy  and  looked  favorable  for  fishing, 
my  prevailing  weakness;  and  the  next,  the  sky  was  fine  but 
I  was  cloudy.  One  moment  I  was  hypercritical,  so  that 
the  flame  was  put  out  by  repeated  trimmings  of  the  lamp, 
and  when  I  had  a  tide  of  thought  running  with  real  Mis 
sissippi  rapidity, Wignell  was  sure  to  send  an  infernal  some 
body  with  a  piece  just  received  from  London,  which  I  was 
to  look  over  and  say  what  I  would  do  in  it.  Thus  time 
was  lost,  till  at  last  I  began  to  impose  on  myself  with  the 
mock  modesty  that  every  field  was  already  sufficiently 
cultivated.  I'll  make  no  comments  on  the  loss  thus  in 
flicted  on  literature ;  suffice  it  that  my  labors  were  limited 
to  a  confederacy  in  a  play  and  a  magazine.  Of  the  former, 
my  old  pupil  and  stagemate,  Mrs.  Merry,*  drew  out  the 
plot,  I  wrote  the  lighter  parts,  and  Merry  the  love-scenes. 
It  was  founded  on  an  anecdote  in  the  life  of  the  benev 
olent  Fenelon.  Wignell  was  so  pleased  on  perusing  it, 
and  expected  so  much  from  its  production,  that  he  took 

*  MRS.  MERRY,  known  in  England  as  Miss  Brunton,  was  born  in  1769,  and 
first  acted  at  Bath,  in  1785.  In  1792  she  left  the  stage  and  married  Mr. 
Robert  Merry.  When  his  means  failed,  they  accepted  a  tempting  offer 
from  America,  and  Mrs.  Merry  made  her  first  appearance  in  the  United 
States  as  Juliet,  at  Philadelphia,  in  1796.  Mr.  Merry  died  in  17m  and 
in  1803  his  widow  married  Mr.  Wignell,  who  lived  but  seven  wee^s  after 
the  wedding.  In  1806  she  married  Mr.^Wttrren,  andsJw-^rcttTtt  Alexan 
dria,  in  1808. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  73 

Fennell*  out  of  jail  to  play  the  principal  character,  but 
this  gentleman's  system  of  living  being  of  a  nature  which 
threatened  him  hourly  with  a  fresh  arrest,  Merry  remarked, 
"It's  Fennell-on  to-night;  it  will  be  Fennell-off  in  the 
morning ;"  and,  much  to  our  chagrin,  his  pun  was  a  proph 
ecy.  Dismissing,  therefore,  our  darling  play,  which, 
babe-like,  had  just  opened  its  eyes,  smiled  on  the  world, 
and  died,  it  may  be  more  amusing  to  say  something  of 
the  slaughterer,  the  said  tragedian — a  very  Herod  with 
dramatic  bantlings. 

Fennell  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  specimens  of 
a  class  it  had  been  my  fate  so  frequently  to  meet,  and  my 
humble  endeavor  to  immortalize — the  eccentric.  Eccen 
tricity  is  a  sort  of  orderly  disorder;  or,  if  that  sound  too 
Irish,  a  peculiar  arrangement  by  which  the  greatest  con 
tradictions  are  placed  in  juxtaposition,  as  though  kitchen 
utensils  were  ranged  round  a  drawing-room.  Most  daz 
zling  schemes  for  acquiring  wealth  and  fame  were,  in  Fen- 
nell's  case,  the  drawing-room  furniture  ;  while  the  kitchen 
implements  were  those  dramatic  talents  by  which  he  cut 
his  loaf  and  cooked  his  dinner.  He  was  a  projector  of  the 
most  genuine  "  South-Sea  Bubble  "  species.  None  of  the 
sages  of  the  flying  island,  of  whom  Gulliver  makes  such 
honorable  mention,  could  best  him  in  the  imaginative 
faculty  which  fills  a  vacuum  in  a  man's  head  to  create  an- 

*  JAMES  FENNELL,  one  of  the  earliest  of  American  tragedians,  was  bom 
in  England,  December  11,  1766,  not  long  after  his  father's  return  from 
New  York.  Fennell  first  appeared  on  the  stage  in  1787,  in  Edinburgh, 
where  he  quarrelled.  He  then  acted  in  London,  at  Covent  Garden.  In  1794 
he  came  to  America,  and  acted  first  at  Philadelphia.  He  appeared  at  the 
Park  Theatre  in  New  York  in  1800,  and  again  in  1802.  He  sank  into  de 
cay  before  he  made  his  last  appearance  in  1814.  He  died  in  June,  1816, 
at  Philadelphia.  He  was  always  erratic  and  reckless,  and  these  disquali 
fications  kept  him  from  attaining  the  high  position  to  which  his  fine  his 
trionic  ability  entitled  him.  His  rambling  and  rhapsodic  "Apology  for  the 
Life  of  James  Fennell  "  was  published  at  Philadelphia  in  1814. 

4 


74  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

other  in  his  pocket.  By  a  strange  perversity,  all  these 
rapid  systems  of  getting  riches  mostly  deposit  the  project 
or  in  jail,  and  Fennell  was  no  exception  to  this  rule.  But, 
like  a  tree,  his  vigor  was  only  increased  by  clipping.  No 
man  could  abound  more  in  faith  and  resignation,  or  be 
lieve  more  fully  in  the  resources  of  the  earth  and  of  his 
own  brain ;  he  was  a  modern  Buckingham,  a  moral  cha 
meleon,  perpetually  changing — though  his  clothes  were  far 
from  sharing  this  mutability.  That  arrant  jade,  Fancy, 
was  ever  luring  him  into  debt  and  disgrace,  while  his 
sober  spouse,  Judgment,  would  lead  him  back  to  the 
stage  and  a  subsistence.  But,  it  may  be  asked,  how,  with 
out  money,  did  he  contrive  to  put  his  poetry  into  practice? 
Gentle  reader,  he  had  a  tongue  as  oily  and  as  silver-toned 
as  Cicero's  or  Itomeo's,  Sheridan's  or  John  Palmer's  ;  arid, 
as  there  are  herds  of  "  believers  "  in  all  countries,  more 
willing  to  speculate  for  money  than  to  work  for  it,  he  be 
came  of  some  use  to  the  community  in  bringing  such  to 
their  senses,  and  displaying,  in  the  strongest  colors,  the 
loveliness  of  vulgar  industry.  He  could  be  an  effectual 
pump  to  the  deepest  mine,  and  merited  Johnson's  eulogy 
as  much  as  Shakespeare,  for  he,  too,  "exhausted  worlds 
[of  capital]  and  then  imagined  new." 

His  career  had  not  been  deficient  in  variety.  Educated 
at  Oxford,  and  designed  for  the  Church,  he  decided  on  the 
stage,  rode  up  to  town,  accosted  Mr.  Harris  in  the  street, 
obtained  a  debut  in  Othello,  was  successful,  and  secured  a 
three  years'  engagement.  But  as  anything  approaching 
to  a  fixed  state  of  comfort  and  respectability  would  be  to 
an  eccentric  as  water  to  flame,  he  visited  Edinburgh,  in 
curred  debts,  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  set  at  naught 
his  obligations  to  the  London  manager.  The  French 
Revolution  was  then  breaking  out,  and  every  man  of 
ardent  temperament  was  burning  to  assist  in  the  great 
work  of  sweeping  away  old  abuses.  Accordingly  Fennell 


JAMES   FENNELL. 
From  the  Polyanthus,  Boston,  1806. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  75 

posted  to  Paris,  and  opened  a  school  of  declamation,  in 
which  principles  and  phrases  were  equally  to  be  discussed. 
But  this  was  a  field  where,  however  plenteous  the  harvest, 
the  reapers  were  too  numerous.  A  rival  demagogue  de 
nounced  him  as  a  spy  of  William  Pitt,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  imitate  his  favorite  Cicero  in  the  most  unpleasing  par 
ticular,  to  decamp  at  night,  and  abandon  Paris  to  but  one 
Mirabeau.  Returning  to  London,  he  commenced  his  liter 
ary  career.  Finding  that  Mr.  Harris  would  not  renew  his 
engagement,  he  set  up  a  wreekly  Review,  in  which,  among 
other  evils  of  the  age,  he  exposed  the  moral  machinery  of 
Mr.  Harris's  government,  with  whom  it  seems  the  Sa 
lic  law  was  not  in  force.  Having  considerable  talent  in 
clothing  truth  with  the  hedgehog  garb  of  satire,  the  pub 
lic  became  interested  in  the  discovery,  and  the  manager 
was  glad  to  conciliate  him  with  a  handsome  outfit  for 
America.  The  Western  world  opened  to  him  a  wider 
range,  and  its  youthful  freshness  tempted  him  like  the 
charms  of  a  first  wife.  The  voyage  was  a  long  fit  of  ru 
mination,  but,  once  landed,  his  Jack-o'-lantern  Sittings  be 
gan.  His  first  project  was  an  academy,  in  which  the  boys 
were  to  study  poetry  in  bowers,  philosophy  in  groves,  and 
mathematics  in  Egyptian  tombs.  Unluckily,  the  urchins 
preferred  the  scenery  to  the  performance;  and  Fennell  was 
driven  to  employ  his  energies  for  the  good  of  their  elders, 
in  devising  a  system  and  implements  for  draining  rivers 
and  raising  corn  in  the  place  of  forests.  When  the  re 
sult  proved  that  he  had  only  raised  expectations  and 
drained  his  associates,  he  was  ready  with  an  institution  that 
was  to  become  national,  a  classical  Vauxhall,  to  elevate  the 
tastes  of  the  lower  orders.  He  styled  it  his  Elysian  Fields, 
made  the  inflexible  Minos  and  Rhadamanthus  his  money- 
takers;  Ceres,  queen  of  his  refectory;  the  Graces  his 
waiters;  the  Nine  his  musicians,  with  Apollo  for  their 
leader;  and  the  heroes  of  the  "Iliad"  and  "Odyssey,"  in 


76  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

towering  shapes  of  pasteboard,  dispensers  of  a  lustre  un 
known  to  Homer,  from  variegated  lamps.  Unfortunately, 
not  having  conciliated  the  favor  of  Jupiter  Pluvius,  a 
week's  deluge  turned  this  blessed  spot  into  a  Tartarus;  a 
legion  of  legal  Furies  rushed  in,  and  Fennell  was  pitched 
into  his  own  Styx  (an  odorous  ditch  at  the  back  of  his 
bowers)  without  its  even  rendering  him  invulnerable,  at 
least,  about  the  shoulder. 

Fennell's  favorite  speculation  was  salt-works,  as  he  be 
lieved  he  had  discovered  a  process  by  which  any  man 
possessing  twenty  yards  of  sea-beach  might  stop  the 
working  of  the  Polish  mines,  and  he  tried  the  experiment 
with  all  the  imposing  apparatus  of  vats,  pans,  and  factory, 
wherever  ho  could  make  converts.  But  the  result  was  in 
variably  the  same,  and  the  traveller  who  was  curious 
enough  to  pay  his  works  a  visit  was  pretty  sure  to  find 
him  sitting  on  an  inverted  tub,  surveying  the  general 
wreck,  like  Marius  at  Carthage.  Thus  it  was  a  common 
joke  in  the  States,  when  any  one  remarked  that  Fennell 
was  trying  another  salt  scheme,  "Yes,  yes;  he  will  al 
ways  be  in  pickle." 

When  I  state  that  my  second  literary  enterprise  was  a 
magazine,  in  which  I  employed  Fennell  to  write  the  prin 
cipal  articles,  it  will  be  readily  surmised  that  the  Thespian 
Mirror  made  but  very  few  reflections.  Thus  was  a  man, 
with  talents  sufficiently  great  and  various  to  have  enabled 
him  to  shine  in  any  profession,  doomed  by  his  evil  genius 
— an  erratic  fancy — to  exhibit  only  the  fitful,  occasional 
gleam  of  the  glowworm.  Fennell,  however,  had  a  gravity 
of  manner  partaking  so  truly  of  the  humor  of  Cervantes, 
that  it  seldom  failed  to  extricate  him  from  his  troubles, 
as  was  seen  in  his  sermon  on  patience,  addressed  to  his 
creditors.  The  following  affords  an  instance  of  his  self- 
possession.  He  was  playing  Macbeth  in  a  summer  com 
pany,  where  a  native  property-man  had  been  engaged, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  77 

who  became  so  enamoured  of  the  stage  that,  forgetting  his 
own  duties,  he  posted  himself  nightly  at  the  wings  to  en 
joy  the  performance.  Fennell,  striding  off  the  stage  with 
due  effect  to  murder  Duncan,  called  for  the  rose-pink  to 
give  his  hands  and  dagger  the  necessary  token.  The  de 
mand  aroused  Obadiah  to  exclaim  inquiringly,  "  Mister  ?" 
"  Where's  the  blood,  sir  ?"  "  Blood,  sir  ?  tarnal  natur,  I 
ha'n't  made  none!"  "No  blood,  sir!  no  blood!  when  the 
plot  of  the  play,  my  very  return  to  the  stage,  where  the 
audience  are  expecting  me,  depends  on  it!"  "Sure  alive, 
sir,  I'm  mortal  sorry,  but — I — "  here  the  fellow  paused, 
speechless  and  motionless,  gazing  in  Fennell's  face  and 
Fennell  in  his.  Now  I'll  venture  to  say  that  nine  actors 
out  of  ten  would  have  felt  tempted  to  knock  this  man 
down  as  dead  as  Duncan,  or  have  sworn  loud  enough  to 
have  roused  any  king  in  Christendom;  but  Fennell  had 
worked  himself  up  to  too  sublime  a  sympathy  with 
Shakespeare  to  descend  to  a  ridiculous  altercation.  His 
genius  pointed  out  the  only  mode  by  which  the  respect 
due  to  Macbeth  and  to  the  audience  could  be  maintained. 
Doubling  his  muscular  arm,  he  planted,  with  the  speed  of 
lightning,  a  well-directed  blow  on  the  nose  of  the  offender. 
In  an  instant  out  gushed  a  liberal  stream  of  crimson. 
Fennell,  without  departing  one  iota  from  the  dignity  of 
his  assumption,  caught  it  in  his  hands,  smeared  with  it 
his  daggers,  then,  bending  on  the  stupefied  delinquent, 
who  had  staggered  against  the  wall,  a  look  of  satisfied 
vengeance,  strode  back  to  the  stage  to  exclaim,  with 
more  than  usual  emphasis,  "  I  have  done  the  deed!" 

The  man  who^e  name  a  stranger  oftenest  heard  in  Phil 
adelphia,  and  always  with  interest,  was  Dr.  Franklin,  the 
good  genius  of  the  city  and  the  state,  the  first  philoso 
pher,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  the  most  serviceable  friend 
America  has  had.  I  was  now  in  the  daily  habit  of  meet 
ing  persons  who  had  been  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  the 


fS  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

Doctor,  and  who  related  to  me  traits  of  him  which  I  do 
not  think  have  been  published  in  his  "Life,"  and  which 
may  therefore  claim  a  place  here.  His  great  principle  was 
that  nothing  is  good  or  beautiful  but  in  the  measure  that 
it  is  useful;  yet  that  all  things  have  a  utility  under  par 
ticular  circumstances.  Thus  poetry,  painting,  and  music 
(and  the  stage  as  their  embodiment)  are  all  the  necessary 
and  proper  gratifications  of  a  refined  state  of  society,  but 
objectionable  at  an  earlier  period,  since  their  cultivation 
would  make  a  taste  for  enjoyment  precede  its  means.  All 
things  have  their  season,  he  would  say,  and  with  young 
countries,  as  with  young  men,  you  must  curb  their  fancy 
to  strengthen  their  judgment.  Labor  must  be  their  first 
lot  in  order  to  make  independence  their  second.  To 
America,  one  schoolmaster  is  worth  a  dozen  poets,  and 
the  invention  of  a  machine  or  the  improvement  of  an  im 
plement  of  more  importance  than  a  masterpiece  of  Ra 
phael.  It  is  by  this  rule  that  Franklin's  own  merits  must 
be  judged,  and  when  wre  consider  the  fitness  of  his  talents 
and  the  measure  of  his  service,  who  will  deny  that  Amer 
ica  could  have  better  spared  a  dozen  Lockes  or  Shakes- 
peares  ?  He,  indeed,  deserves,  as  much  as  any  man,  the 
title  of  the  Father  of  American  Liberty.  Many  of  the 
early  immigrants  to  Philadelphia  had  been  people  of  con 
siderable  property,  who  carried  over  many  domestic  re 
finements  which  raised  a  restless  desire  for  imitation  in 
the  needier  inhabitants.  Thus  envy  and  discontent  on 
one  side,  and  arrogance  and  laxity  of  principle  on  the 
other,  had,  in  a  short  period,  rendered  this  state  one  of 
the  most  factious,  dissolute,  and  indolent  in  the  group, 
when  Franklin,  in  order  to  show  the  people  that  the  true 
source  of  happiness  was  an  honest  independence,  began 
-  his  "  Poor  Richard's  Almanack,"  a  work  which  produced 
an  unparalleled  effect  by  the  force  both  of  its  reasoning 
and  of  its  humor.  His  labors  may  thus  be  considered  one 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  79 

of  the  primary  causes  of  the  revolution,  since,  by  elevat 
ing  the  Southern  States  to  a  moral  equality  with  New 
England,  he  enabled  the  tide  of  liberty  to  run  upon  a 
level  when  its  flood-gates  were  pulled  up. 

In  an  introduction  to  his  "Almanack,"  published  in  1735, 
he  tells  the  story  of  his  stopping  his  horse  at  a  country 
auction,  where  there  was,  as  usual,  a  crowd  of  idle  farmers 
collected  to  purchase  superfluities.  The  sale  not  having 
begun,  they  amused  themselves  with  complaints  of  the 
badness  of  the  times,  and  appealed  to  a  venerable  old  man 
who  was  present  whether  their  heavy  taxes  would  not 
ruin  the  country,  and  ought  not  government  to  remit 
them  ?  "  It's  true,"  he  replied,  "  that  we  are  taxed  heav 
ily  on  everything  we  wear  and  work  with,  and  on  much 
that  we  eat  and  drink;  but  there  are  heavier  taxes  than 
these,  and  which  government  cannot  take  off.  We  are 
taxed  twice  as  much  by  our  idleness,  three  times  as  much 
by  our  pride,  and  four  times  as  much  by  our  folly,  or  we 
should  be  all  at  our  work  in  the  fields  instead  of  loitering 
here  to  buy  finery  that  we  can't  afford."  Surely  such  doc 
trine  was  as  applicable  in  Europe  as  in  America. 

One  of  the  Doctor's  greatest  abhorrences  was  waste, 
not  only  of  time,  but  also  of  labor  and  ingenuity,  in  the 
construction  of  petty  refinements  which  he  called  "  gim- 
cracks."  To  impress  the  folly  of  this  he  drew  up  a  curious 
catalogue  of  such  wasters.  One  had  devoted  a  whole  life 
to  the  copying  of  the  "  Iliad  "  on  a  piece  of  vellum  which 
would  go  into  a  nutshell;  another  (Jerome  Faba)  present 
ed  to  Francis  I.  a  coach  made  from  a  grain  of  wheat,  yet 
containing  a  lady  and  gentleman;  a  third  was  patronized 
by  Queen  Elizabeth  for  writing  the  Liturgy  within  the 
compass  of  her  thumb-nail;  while  a  fourth,  mentioned  by 
Madame  Savigny,  had  constructed  a  chariot  to  be  drawn 
by  fleas.  When  the  dauphin  asked  the  Prince  of  Conde 
who  had  supplied  the  harness  for  this  equipage,  he  an- 


80  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

swered,  with  much  p'oint,  "No  doubt  some  spider  in  the 
neighborhood." 

But  of  all  the  evils  the  Doctor  combated,  that  about 
which  he  felt  most  strongly  was  the  elevation  of  fashion 
into  a  sort  of  religion.  The  folly  and  sin  of  a  man  wast 
ing  money  and  time  on  mint-sling  and  cock-fighting  he 
could  at  least  understand;  but  how  a  woman,  with  all  her 
weakness,  could  submit  to  foreign  tastes  which,  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten,  impaired  both  her  comfort  and  her  beau 
ty,  was  to  him  perfectly  inexplicable.  With  what  con 
sternation,  then,  did  he  view  the  arrival  of  a  certain  ad 
junct  intended  to  give  the  outlines  of  the  ladies  a  more 
pleasing  rotundity.  Its  effect  no  sooner  struck  him  than, 
fearful  it  might  be  a  new  species  of  tumor,  he  made  in 
quiries  which  resulted  in  discovering  that  about  the  year 
1783  a  certain  German  duchess  had  visited  Paris,  whose 
Caffrarian  distinction  fully  equalled  the  magnificence  of 
her  other  displays.  The  fair  Parisians  were  paralyzed. 
They  were  surpassed  in  a  novelty  they  had  never  contem 
plated.  French  pride  was,  however,  a  sufficient  stimulus 
to  French  invention,  and  in  a  few  days  an  auxiliary  was 
devised  which  enabled  the  merest  cockboat  to  sail  abroad 
with  the  gallery  of  a  three-decker,  a  projection  on  which 
she  might  have  perched  one  of  her  livery  servants. 
From  Paris  the  contagion  spread  to  London,  and  the  last 
ship  had  brought  over,  it  was  supposed,  at  least  six  hun 
dred  "  Dernier  ressorts  "  to  Philadelphia.  The  Doctor  by 
some  means  obtained  possession  of  one,  and,  finding  it  was 
composed  of  wool,  he  computed  the  number  of  pairs  of 
stockings  its  material  would  have  afforded  to  the  poor, 
and  stating  publicly  the  amount,  along  with  the  origin  of 
the  monstrosity,  he  put  the  question  to  the  fair  sex  wheth 
er  they  would  not  derive  more  gratification  from  contrib 
uting  to  the  comfort  of  the  indigent,  than  from  applying 
a  muff  to  that  part  of  their  persons  which  required  nei 
ther  warmth  nor  ornament. 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  81 

As  a  philanthropist,  Franklin  has  had  few  equals,  for 
while  he  wrote  to  prevent  misery,  by  checking  error,  he 
lived  to  afford  a  practical  commentary  on  his  works.  His 
chief  pleasure  was  to  encourage  the  adoption  of  his  prin 
ciples,  yet  no  man's  ear  was  more  open  to  any  plaint  of 
misfortune,  though  his  sympathy  was  of  that  highest  kind 
which  confers  no  individual  benefit  without  regarding  the 
collective  good. 

When  riding  out  one  day  he  passed  a  farmer  sitting 
listlessly  by  the  roadside,  his  chin  on  his  hand  and  his 
elbow  on  his  knee.  Taking  this  to  be  a  very  reprehensi 
ble  fit  of  laziness,  he  drew  rein  to  expostulate,  but  the  first 
glance  at  the  rustic's  face  excited  his  pitying  interest. 
Inquiring  into  his  circumstances,  he  heard  a  sad  history  of 
failures  in  regard  to  land,  implements,  and  live-stock. 
The  details  convinced  the  Doctor  of  the  man's  industry, 
but  seemed  to  throw  doubt  on  his  knowledge.  "  Have 
you  read  any  of  ray  books,  my  friend  ?"  said  he.  "  I  arn 
Dr.  Franklin."  At  this  name  the  man  looked  up  eagerly, 
but  the  next  moment  relapsed  into  his  former  apathy,  as 
if  completely  heartbroken.  "  Oh,  yes,  Doctor,"  he  re 
plied,  "I've  read  your  Almanacs — I've  worked  by  'em, 
and  slept  upon  'em — I  and  my  wife  and  all  my  boys. 
But  I  don't  see  the  good  of  it;  none  of  your  sayings  have 
come  true."  "No?"  exclaimed  Franklin;  "now  which 
do  you  mean  in  particular  ?"  "  Why,  don't  you  remem 
ber,  Doctor,  where  you  say, '  A  light  hand  makes  a  heavy 
pocket.'  *  He  who  runs  in  youth  may  lie  down  in  age.' 
*  Industry  must  prosper,'  and  all  that  ?  Now  here  have 
I  been  sinking  deeper  and  deeper  instead  of  getting  on, 
work  as  I  would."  "Humph!"  rejoined  Franklin;  "it 
strikes  me,  my  friend,  that  where  I  say  'Industry  must 
prosper,'  there  is  a  note  at  the  bottom  to  explain."  "  A 
note  ?  I  don't  recollect  any  notes."  "  Then  it  is  very 
likely  your  copy  is  an  imperfect  one;  many  of  my  first  edi- 

4* 


82  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

tions  were;  so  to-morrow  I'll  send  you  a  proper  one  I  have 
at  home,  and,  if  you'll  take  the  trouble  to  look  over  it  you 
will  find  under  the  line  *  Industry  must  prosper,'  a  note 
which  throws  further  light  on  the  subject."  The  Doctor 
then  bade  him  good-day  and  rode  on.  The  next  morning 
a  packet  was  brought  to  the  farmer's  door  containing  the 
Almanac  as  promised,  and  after  thumbing  a  few  pages  he 
found  the  line.  Sure  enough,  beneath  it  was  an  explana 
tory  note — being  one  for  twenty  dollars  on  the  Philadel 
phia  Bank. 

Again,  what  infinite  delicacy  was  mingled  with  the  be 
nevolence  of  the  following  :  When  in  Paris,  a  nightly  vis 
itor  at  a  coterie  of  which  Grimm,  d'Holbach,  and  d'Alem- 
bert,  etc.,  were  the  ruling  luminaries,  Franklin,  by  his 
playful  simplicity,  captivated  a  lady  of  great  wealth  and 
accomplishments,  so  that  they  became,  in  the  most  English 
sense  of  the  phrase,  the  best  of  friends.  When  he  was 
about  to  leave  the  capital  she  called  upon  him,  and,  taking 
his  hand,  her  eyes  filled  with  tears,  she  said,  "My  dear 
friend,  you  are  going  home,  and  I  may  never  see  you  again. 
I  shall  never  forget  you  so  long  as  I  have  memory;  but  I 
wish  to  have  some  assurance  that  I  shall  not  be  forgotten. 
Here  is  my  picture — it  is  a  good  likeness;  if  you  will  take 
it,  you  will  sometimes  have  me  before  you."  Franklin 
looked  an  instant  at  the  portrait,  richly  set  with  diamonds, 
and  the  deeper,  better  feelings  of  his  nature  were  stirred. 
"Madame,"  he  replied,  "permit  me  to  return  this  picture, 
and  to  propose  to  you  another  mode  of  being  kept  in  my 
remembrance.  You  are  very  rich.  Give  me  a  draft  on 
your  banker  for  the  value  of  these  diamonds,  and  let  me 
apply  the  money,  when  I  reach  America,  to  found  a  school 
for  the  children  of  the  poor.  Such  an  institution  is  sure 
to  prosper;  and  then,  as  I  grow  old,  when  I  go  abroad, 
I  shall  see  your  face  in  perhaps  a  hundred  miniatures 
— the  smiles  of  grateful  children,  growing  up  to  be  hon- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  83 

est  men."  The  money  was  given,  and  the  school  was 
founded. 

Franklin's  humor  had  a  peculiarly  full  flavor,  it  was  as 
direct  as  his  reasoning.  One  evening  he  was  in  company 
where  the  conversation  turned  on  the  respective  merits  of 
the  universities  at  New  Haven  and  Cambridge,  each  pre 
ferring  that  at  which  he  had  been  educated.  A  young 
prig  of  a  barrister  at  last  interrupted  the  discussion,  by 
remarking,  "  For  my  part,  I  can't,  with  fairness,  offer  an 
opinion,  for  I  was  educated  at  both."  "  That  puts  me  in 
mind,"  said  the  Doctor,  eying  the  interlocutor  signifi 
cantly,  "  of  a  story,  I  once  heard  of  a  calf  that  was 
suckled  by  two  cows."  "And  what  was  the  result?" 
asked  the  prig.  "  That  he  was  a  very  great  calf"  was  the 
reply. 

He  took  a  very  sensible  view  of  female  perfection. 
Walking  with  a  friend  in  Paris,  they  were  passed  by  a 
degagee  beauty  who  was  celebrated  for  the  symmetry  of 
her  nether  extremities.  "  There,  Franklin,"  cried  his  com 
panion,  who  was  an  enthusiast  in  this  particular,  "  there's 
a  foot!  there's  perfection!  That  foot  is  allowed  to  be  a 
model  for  all  Europe."  "No,  it's  not,"  replied  he.  "No! 
Why  not?"  "She  has  got  a  hole  in  her  stocking." 


CHAPTER  V. 

1798. — Annapolis. — Society  in  Maryland. — Mr.  Carroll.— Adventure  with 
General  Washington ;  Establishing  the  Independence  of  a  Chaise ;  Wash 
ington's  Appearance ;  his  Conversation ;  Observations  on  New  and  Old 
England,  on  Slavery,  the  Abbe  Raynal,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  the 
Drama ;  his  One  Jest. — Notices  of  the  Military  Heroes  of  the  Revolution. 
— The  Qualifications  most  Needed. — Charles  Lee,  the  Second  in  Com 
mand  ;  his  Character  and  Career ;  Supposed  to  be  Junius ;  his  Taking 
"  Five  Friends  "  to  the  Play ;  Reply  to  an  Old  Maid ;  Value  of  a  Sword ; 
his  Death.— Green,  the  "  Fighting  Quaker.1'— Colonel  Tarleton's  Joke.— 
Gates,  the  Old  English  Gentleman ;  his  Repartee.— Arnold,  the  "  Politi 
cal  Judas ;"  his  Career  and  End ;  a  Negro  Sarcasm ;  his  Promised 
Funeral.  —  Lafayette  Compared  with  Washington ;  his  Reply  to  a 
Royalist. — Baron  von  Steuben ;  his  Poverty ;  New  Use  for  a  Sabre. — 
"Old  Israel"  Putnam;  the  Modern  Cincinnatus,  his  Wolf  Adventure; 
his  Daring  in  War ;  his  Jokes.  —  Lord  Stirling ;  his  Formality ;  Say 
ings  to  his  Men ;  a  Private's  Retort ;  Early  Rising. — Ethan  Allen,  the 
"  Rhode  Island  Oracle ;"  his  Strange  Character ;  his  Simplicity. — Kos- 
ciusko's  Declaration. 

OUK  season  was  so  prosperous  that  Wignell  delayed  his 
visit  to  Baltimore  till  the  summer  was  far  advanced,  and, 
as  his  leave  extended  but  to  the  middle  of  June,  we  opened 
the  house  only  to  close  it,  and  adjourn  to  the  capital  of 
Maryland — which  might  well  be  termed  the  Bath  of  Amer 
ica — Annapolis. 

.  In  this  little  spot  all  the  best  of  Philadelphian  and  Vir 
ginian  society  was  concentrated,  and  here,  I  am  convinced, 
the  most  stubborn  anti-republican  could  not  but  have  per 
ceived  the  absurdity  of  the  common  notion  that  all  must 
be  on  a  level  socially  because  they  are  so  politically. 
America  really  contained  a  true  nobility,  men  of  talent, 
probity,  and  benevolence,  who  had  been  raised  by  the 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  85 

public  voice  to  a  station  which  the  public  feeling  bowed 
down  to — a  station  not  hereditary,  or  due  to  one  man's 
caprice  or  another's  intrigue,  but  unassailably  based  on 
merit,  and  open  to  every  one  who  chose  to  emulate  the 
conduct  of  its  possessor.  From  my  Philadelphian  friends 
I  obtained  introductions  to  several  occupiers  of  this  posi 
tion — Mr.  Howard,  the  chancellor,  Judge  Kelly,  Governor 
Stone,  General  Davidson,  and  last,  not  least,  the  excellent 
Mr.  Carroll,  one  of  the  subscribers  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Perhaps  the  latter,  as  much  as  any  man, 
was  an  illustration  of  my  remarks.  From  the  refinement 
of  his  manners,  a  stranger  would  have  surmised  that  he 
had  passed  all  his  days  in  the  salo7is  of  Paris.  He  had 
all  that  suavity  and  softness,  in  combination  with  dignity, 
which  bespeak  the  perfection  of  good  taste.  This  attested 
the  character  of  his  society.  Ease  may  be  natural  to  a 
man,  but  elegance — the  union  of  propriety  with  ease — 
must  be  acquired;  the  art  of  respecting  one's  company  as 
well  as  one's  self  necessarily  implies  that  one's  company  is 
worth  respecting.  But  Mr.  Carroll  possessed  higher  quali 
ties  than  mere  external  polish.  He  had  a  heart  that  col 
ored  all  his  thoughts  and  deeds  with  the  truest  hues  of 
humanity.  No  man  was  fonder  of  doing  a  good  action, 
and,  certainly,  none  could  do  it  with  a  better  grace. 

A  few  weeks  after  my  location  at  Annapolis  I  met  with 
a  most  pleasing  adventure,  no  less  than  an  encounter  with 
General  Washington,  under  circumstances  which  most 
fully  confirmed  the  impression  I  had  formed  of  him.  I 
had  been  to  pay  a  visit  to  an  acquaintance  on  the  banks 
of  the  Potomac,  a  few  miles  below  Alexandria,  and  was 
returning  on  horseback,  in  the  rear  of  an  old-fashioned 
chaise,  the  driver  of  which  was  strenuously  urging  his 
steed  to  an  accelerated  pace.  The  beast  showed  singular 
indifference  till  a  lash,  directed  with  more  skill  than  hu 
manity,  took  the  skin  from  an  old  wound.  The  sudden 


'  86  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

pang  threw  the  poor  animal  on  his  hind -legs,  and  the 
wheel  swerving  upon  the  bank,  over  went  the  chaise, 
flinging  out  upon  the  road  a  young  woman  who  had  been 
its  occupant.  The  minute  before  I  had  perceived  a  horse 
man  approaching  at  a  gentle  trot,  who  now  broke  into  a 
gallop,  and  we  reached  the  scene  of  the  disaster  together. 
The  female  was  our  first  care.  She  was  insensible,  but 
had  sustained  no  material  injury.  My  companion  sup 
ported  her,  while  I  brought  some  Avater  in  the  crown  of 
my  hat,  from  a  spring  some  way  off.  The  driver  of  the 
chaise  had  landed  on  his  legs,  and,  having  ascertained  that 
his  spouse  was  not  dead,  seemed  very  well  satisfied  with 
the  care  she  was  in,  and  set  about  extricating  his  horse. 
A  gush  of  tears  announced  the  lady's  return  to  sensibility, 
and  then,  as  her  eyes  opened,  h.er  tongue  gradually  re 
sumed  its  office,  and  assured  us  that  she  retained  at  least 
one  faculty  in  perfection,  as  she  poured  forth  a  volley  of 
invectives  on  her  mate.  The  horse  was  now  on  his  legs, 
but  the  vehicle  still  prostrate,  heavy  in  its  frame,  and 
laden  with  at  least  half  a  ton  of  luggage.  My  fellow- 
helper  set  me  an  example  of  activity  in  relieving  it  of  the 
external  weight;  and,  when  all  was  clear,  we  grasped  the 
wheel  between  us  and,  to  the  peril  of  our  spinal  columns, 
righted  the  conveyance.  The  horse  was  then  put  in,  and 
we  lent  a  hand  to  help  up  the  luggage.  All  this  helping, 
hauling,  and  lifting  occupied  at  least  half  an  hour,  under 
a  meridian  sun  in  the  middle  of  July,  which  fairly  boiled 
the  perspiration  out  of  our  foreheads.  Our  unfortunate 
friend  somewhat  relieved  the  task  with  his  narrative.  He 
was  a  New-Englander  who  had  emigrated  to  the  South 
when  young,  there  picked  up  a  wife  and  some  money,  and 
was  now  on  his  way  home, having,  he  told  us,  been  "made 
very  comfortable"  by  the  death  of  his  father;  and  when 
all  was  right,  and  we  had  assisted  the  lady  to  resume  her 
seat,  he  begged  us  to  proceed  with  him  to  Alexandria  and 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  87 

take  a  drop  of  "  something  sociable."  Finding,  however, 
that  we  were  unsociable,  he  extended  his  hand  (no  distant 
likeness  of  a  seal's  fin),  gripped  ours  as  he  had  done  the 
heavy  boxes,  and,  when  we  had  sufficiently/I^  that  he  was 
grateful,  drove  on.  My  companion,  after  an  exclamation 
at  the  heat,  offered  very  courteously  to  dust  my  coat,  a 
favor  the  return  of  which  enabled  me  to  take  a  deliberate 
survey  of  his  person.  He  was  a  tall,  erect,  well-made 
man,  evidently  advanced  in  years,  but  who  appeared  to 
have  retained  all  the  vigor  and  elasticity  resulting  from  a 
life  of  temperance  and  exercise.  His  dress  was  a  blue 
coat  buttoned  to  his  chin,  and  buckskin  breeches.  Though, 
the  instant  he  took  off  his  hat,  I  could  not  avoid  the  recog 
nition  of  familiar  lineaments — which,  indeed,  I  was  in  the 
habit  of  seeing  on  every  sign-post  and  over  every  fire 
place — still  I  failed  to  identify  him,  and,  to  my  surprise, 
I  found  that  I  was  an  object  of  equal  speculation  in  his 
eyes.  A  smile  at  length  lighted  them  up,  and  he  ex 
claimed,  "Mr.  Bernard,  I  believe?"  I  bowed.  "I  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  perform  last  winter  in  Phila 
delphia."  I  bowed  again,  and  he  added,  "  I  have  heard  of 
you  since  from  several  of  my  friends  at  Annapolis.  You 
are  acquainted  with  Mr.  Carroll  ?"  I  replied  that  that  gen 
tleman's  society  had  made  amends  for  much  that  I  had 
lost  in  quitting  England.  He  then  learned  the  cause  of 
my  presence  in  the  neighborhood,  and  remarked,  "You 
must  be  fatigued.  If  you  will  ride  up  to  my  house,  which 
is  not  a  mile  distant,  you  can  prevent  any  ill-effects  from 
this  exertion,  by  a  couple  of  hours'  rest."  I  looked  round 
for  his  dwelling,  and  he  pointed  to  a  building  which, 
the  day  before,  I  had  spent  an  hour  in  contemplating. 
"Mount  Vernon!"  I  exclaimed;  and  then,  drawing  back, 
with  a  stare  of  wonder,  "  have  I  the  honor  of  addressing 
General  "Washington  ?"  With  a  smile,  whose  expression 
of  benevolence  I  have  rarely  seen  equalled,  he  offered  his 


88  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

hand,  and  replied,  "  An  odd  sort  of  introduction,  Mr.  Ber 
nard;  but  I  am  pleased  to  find  you  can  play  so  active  a 
part  in  private,  and  without  a  prompter,"  and  then  pointed 
to  our  horses  (which  had  stood  like  statues  all  this  time, 
as  though  in  sympathy  with  their  fallen  brother),  and 
shrugged  his  shoulders  at  the  inn.  I  needed  no  further 
stimulus  to  accept  his  friendly  invitation.  As  we  rode  up 
to  his  house  we  entered  freely  into  conversation,  first,  in 
reference  to  his  friends  at  Annapolis,  then  respecting  my 
own  success  in  America  and  the  impressions  I  had  received 
of  the  country. 

Flattering  as  such  inquiries  were  from  such  a  source,  I 
must  confess,  my  own  reflections  on  what  had  just  passed 
were  more  absorbing.  Considering  that  nine  ordinary 
country  gentlemen  out  of  ten,  who  had  seen  a  chaise  upset 
near  their  estate,  would  have  thought  it  savored  neither  of 
pride  nor  ill-nature  to  ride  home  and  send  their  servants 
to  its  assistance,  I  could  not  but  think  that  I  had  wit 
nessed  one  of  the  strongest  evidences  of  a  great  man's 
claim  to  his  reputation — the  prompt,  impulsive  working 
of  a  heart  which  having  made  the  good  of  mankind — not 
conventional  forms — its  religion,  was  never  so  happy  as  in 
_practically  displaying  it.  On  reaching  the  house  (which, 
in  its  compact  simplicity  and  commanding  elevation,  was 
no  bad  emblem  of  its  owner's  mind),  we  found  that  Mrs. 
Washington  was  indisposed;  but  the  general  ordered  re 
freshments  in  a  parlor  whose  windows  took  a  noble  range 
of  the  Potomac,  and,  after  a  few  minutes'  absence,  rejoined 
me. 

Though  I  have  ventured  to  offer  some  remarks  on  his 
less-known  contemporaries,  I  feel  it  would  be  an  imper 
tinence  to  say  a  word  on  the  public  merits  of  a  man  whose 
character  has  been  burning  as  a  beacon  to  Europe  till  its 
qualities  are  as  well  known  as  the  names  and  dates  of  his 
triumphs.  My  retrospect  of  him  is  purely  a  social  one, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  89 

and  much  do  I  regret,  for  the  interest  of  these  pages,  that 
it  is  confined  to  a  single  interview.  The  general  impres 
sion  I  received  from  his  appearance  fully  corresponded 
with  the  description  of  him  by  the  Marquis  de  Chatelluz, 
who  visited  America  at  the  close  of  the  war.  "  The  great 
characteristic  of  Washington,"  says  he,  "is  the  perfect 
union  which  seems  to  subsist  between  his  moral  and  physi 
cal  qualities;  so  that  the  selection  of  one  would  enable 
you  to  judge  of  all  the  rest.  If  you  are  presented  with 
medals  of  Trajfin  or  Caesar,  the  features  will  lead  you  to 
inquire  the  proportions  of  their  persons;  but  if  you  should 
discover  in  a  heap  of  ruins  the  leg  or  arm  of  an  antique 
Apollo,  you  would  not  be  curious  about  the  other  parts, 
but  content  yourself  with  the  assurance  that  they  were  all 
conformable  to  those  of  a  god."  Though  fourteen  years 
had  elapsed  since  this  was  written,  I  could  perceive  that 
it  was  far  from  being  the  language  of  mere  enthusiasm. 
Whether  you  surveyed  his  face,  open  yet  well  defined, 
dignified  but  not  arrogant,  thoughtful  but  benign;  his 
frame,  towering  and  muscular,  but  alert  from  its  good 
proportion — every  feature  suggested  a  resemblance  to  the 
spirit  it  encased,  and  showed  simplicity  in  alliance  with 
the  sublime.  The  impression,  therefore,  was  that  of  a 
most  perfect  whole;  and  though  the  effect  of  proportion 
is  said  to  be  to  reduce  the  idea  of  magnitude,  you  could 
not  but  think  you  looked  upon  a  wonder,  and  something 
sacred  as  well  as  wonderful — a  man  fashioned  by  the  hand 
of  Heaven,  with  every  requisite  to  achieve  a  great  work. 
Thus  a  feeling  of  awe  and  veneration  stole  over  you. 

In  conversation  his  face  had  not  much  variety  of  ex 
pression:  a  look  of  thoughtf ulness  was  given  by  the  com 
pression  of  the  mouth  and  the  indentation  of  the  brow 
(suggesting  an  habitual  conflict  with  and  mastery  over 
passion)  which  did  not  seem  so  much  to  disdain  a  sympa 
thy  with  trivialities  as  to  be  incapable  of  denoting  them. 


90  RETROSPECTIONS    OF  AMERICA. 

Nor  had  his  voice,  so  far  as  I  could  discover  in  our  quiet 
talk,  much  change,  or  richness  of  intonation,  but  he  always 
spoke  with  earnestness,  and  his  eyes  (glorious  conductors 
of  the  light  within)  burned  with  a  steady  fire  which  no 
one  could  mistake  for  mere  affability;  they  were  one 
grand  expression  of  the  well-known  line,  "  I  am  a  man, 
and  interested  in  all  that  concerns  humanity."  In  our 
hour  and  a  half's  conversation  he  touched  on  every  topic 
that  I  brought  before  him  with  an  even  current  of  good 
sense,  if  he  embellished  it  with  little  wit"  or  verbal  ele 
gance.  He  spoke  like  a  man  who  had  felt  as  much  as  he 
had  reflected,  and  reflected  more  than  he  had  spoken;  like 
one  who  had  looked  upon  society  rather  in  the  mass  than 
in  detail;  and  who  regarded  the  happiness  of  America  but 
as  the  first  link  in  a  series  of  universal  victories ;  for  his 
full  faith  in  the  power  of  those  results  of  civil  liberty 
which  he  saw  all  around  him  led  him  to  foresee  that  it 
would,  ere  long,  prevail  in  other  countries,  and  that  the 
social  millenium  of  Europe  would  usher  in  the  political. 
When  I  mentioned  to  him  the  difference  I  perceived 
between  the  inhabitants  of  New  England  and  of  the 
Southern  States  he  remarked,  "I  esteem  those  people 
greatly;  they  are  the  stamina  of  the  Union  and  its  great 
est  benefactors.  They  are  continually  spreading  them 
selves  too,  to  settle  and  enlighten  less  favored  quarters. 
Dr.  Franklin  is  a  JSTew-Englandcr."  When  I  remarked 
that  his  observations  were  flattering  to  my  country,  he 
replied,  with  great  good-humor,  "Yes,  yes,  Mr.  Bernard, 
but  I  consider  your  country  the  cradle  of  free  principles, 
not  their  arm-chair.  Liberty  in  England  is  a  sort  of  idol ; 
people  are  bred  up  in  the  belief  and  love  of  it,  but  see 
little  of  its  doings.  They  walk  about  freely,  but  then  it 
is,between  high  walls;  and  the  error  of  its  government 
was  in  supposing  that  after  a  portion  of  their  subjects 
had  crossed  the  sea  to  live  upon  a  common,  they  would 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  91 

permit  their  friends  at  home  to  build  up  those  walls  about 
them."  A  black  coming  in  at  this  moment,  with  a  jug 
of  spring  water,  I  could  not  repress  a  smile,  which  the 
general  at  once  interpreted.  "  This  may  seem  a  contra 
diction,  he  continued,  "  but  I  think  you  must  perceive 
that  it  is  neither  a  crime  nor  an  absurdity.  When  we 
profess,  as  our  fundamental  principle,  that  liberty  is  the 
inalienable  right  of  every  man,  we  do  not  include  mad 
men  or  idiots;  liberty  in  their  hands  would  become  a 
scourge.  Till  the  mind  of  the  slave  has  been  'educated 
to  perceive  what  are  the  obligations  of  a  state  of  freedom, 
and  not  confound  a  man's  with  a  brute's,  the  gift  would 
insure  its  abuse.  We  might  as  well  be  asked  to  pull 
down  our  old  warehouses  before  trade  has  increased  to 
demand  enlarged  new  ones.  Both  houses  and  slaves  were 
bequeathed  to  us  by  Europeans,  and  time  alone  can 
change  them;  an  event,  sir,  which,  you  may  believe  me, 
no  man  desires  more  heartily  than  I  do.  Not  only  do  I 
pray  for  it,  on  the  score  of  human  dignity,  but  I  can 
clearly  foresee  that  nothing  but  the  rooting  out  of  slavery 
can  perpetuate  the  existence  of  our  union,  by  consolidat 
ing  it  in  a  common  bond  of  principle." 

I  now  referred  to  the  pleasant  hours  I  had  passed  in 
Philadelphia,  and  my  agreeable  surprise  at  finding  there 
so  many  men  of  talent,  at  which  his  face  lit  up  vividly. 
"I  am  glad  to  hear  you,  sir,  who  are  an  Englishman,  say 
so,  because  you  must  now  perceive  how  ungenerous  are 
the  assertions  people  are  always  making  on  your  side  of 
the  water.  One  gentleman,  of  high  literary  standing — 
I  allude  to  the  Abbe  Raynal — has  demanded  whether 
America  has  yet  produced  one  great  poet,  statesman,  or 
philosopher.  The  question  shows  anything  but  observa 
tion,  because  it  is  easy  to  perceive  the  causes  which  have 
combined  to  render  the  genius  of  this  country  scientific 
rather  than  imaginative.  And,  in  this  respect,  America 


92  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

has  surely  furnished  her  quota.  Franklin,  Rittenhouse, 
and  Rush  are  no  mean  names,  to  which,  without  shame,  I 
may  append  those  of  Jefferson  and  Adams  as  politicians ; 
while  I  am  told  that  the  works  of  President  Edwards  of 
Rhode  Island  are  a  text-book  in  polemics  in  many  Euro 
pean  colleges." 

Of  the  replies  which  I  made  to  his  inquiries  respecting 
England,  he  listened  to  none  with  so  much  interest  as  to 
those  which  described  the  character  of  my  royal  patron, 
the  Prince  of  Wales.  "He  holds  out  every  promise," 
remarked  the  general, "of  a  brilliant  career.  He  has  been 
well  educated  by  events,  and  I  doubt  not  that,  in  his  time, 
England  will  receive  the  benefit  of  her  child's  emancipa 
tion.  She  is  at  present  bent  double,  and  has  to  walk  with 
crutches ;  but  her  offspring  may  teach  her  the  secret  of 
regaining  strength,  erectness,  and  independence."  In 
reference  to  my  own  pursuits  he  repeated  the  sentiments 
of  Franklin :  he  feared  the  country  was  too  poor  to  be  a 
patron  of  the  drama,  and  that  only  arts  of  a  practical 
nature  would  for  some  time  be  esteemed.  The  stage  he 
considered  to  be  an  indispensable  resource  for  settled 
society  and  a  chief  refiner ;  not  merely  interesting  as  a 
comment  on  the  history  of  social  happiness  by  its  exhibi 
tion  of  manners,  but  an  agent  of  good  as  a  school  for 
poetry,  in  holding  up  to  honor  the  noblest  principles.  "  I 
am  too  old  and  too  far  removed,"  he  added,  "  to  seek  for 
or  require  this  pleasure  myself,  but  the  cause  is  not  to 
droop  on  my  account.  There's  my  friend,  Mr.  Jefferson, 
has  time  and  taste ;  he  goes  always  to  the  play,  and  I'll 
introduce  you  to  him,"  a  promise  which  he  kept,  and 
which  proved  to  me  the  source  of  the  greatest  benefit 
and  pleasure. 

As  I  was  engaged  to  dine  at  home,  I  at  length  rose  to 
take  my  leave,  not  without  receiving  from  the  general  a 
very  flattering  request  to  call  on  him  whenever  I  rode  by. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  93 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  once  after  this  in  An 
napolis,  and  I  dined  with  him  on  a  public  occasion  at 
Alexandria,  my  impressions  each  time  improving  into  a 
higher  degree  of  respect  and  admiration. 

I  have  never  heard  of  but  one  jest  of  Washington's, 
which  was  related  to  me  by  his  aide-de-camp,  my  good 
friend,  Colonel  Humphreys.  The  general,  rather  priding 
himself  on  his  riding,  the  colonel  was  induced,  one  day 
when  they  were  out  hunting  together,  to  offer  him  a  bet 
that  he  would  not  follow  him  over  one  particular  hedge. 
The  challenge  was  accepted,  and  Humphreys  led  the  way 
and  took  the  leap  boldly,  but,  to  his  consternation,  dis 
covered  that  he  had  mistaken  the  spot,  and  was  deposited, 
up  to  his  horse's  girths,  in  a  quagmire.  The  general 
either  knew  the  ground  better,  or  had  suspected  some 
thing,  for,  following  at  an  easy  pace,  he  reined  up  at  the 
hedge,  and,  looking  over  at  his  engulfed  aide,  exclaimed, 
"No,  no,  colonel,  you  are  too  deep  for  me  !" 

Most  of  my  acquaintances  at  Annapolis  had  been  spec 
tators  of  the  Revolution,  and,  as  that  event  was  one  of 
our  most  frequent  topics,  I  gleaned  at  their  tables  many 
anecdotes  of  its  military  agents,  which  were  afterwards 
enlarged  upon  by  my  good  friends  Mr.  Jefferson  and 
Colonel  Humphreys.  It  may,  therefore,  be  not  unaccep 
table  if  I  offer  my  readers  a  few  glimpses  of  the  satellites 
who  surrounded  the  great  luminary,  and  who,  remaining 
comparatively  obscure,  yet  become  interesting  in  the 
measure  they  now  appear  to  have  contributed  to  his 
radiance. 

If  the  "modern  Fabius"  possessed  a  mind  so  happily 
constituted  that  fortune  could  as  little  disarm  it  of  cau 
tion  as  adversity  of  enterprise,  it  was  owing  to  that  sound 
judgment  which,  conscious  of  the  military  inferiority  of 
his  countrymen,  saw  that  his  only  chance  of  success  lay 
in  either  leading  his  enemies  into  positions  where  local 


94  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

circumstances  would  conquer,  or  in  reducing  them  in  de 
tail.  Thus  the  decisive  blow  at  Trenton  turned  the  tide 
when  it  had  nearly  engulfed  every  hope ;  and  the  events 
of  Saratoga  and  Yorktown  proved  the  pillars  of  the  Inde 
pendence.  Into  only  one  openly  contested  fight  (Brandy- 
wine)  did  he  permit  himself  to  be  drawn,  and  that  was  in 
compliance  with  a  general  prejudice,  its  result  confirming 
the  soundness  of  his  principle.  But,  in  addition  to  the 
adoption  of  this  policy,  the  success  of  the  struggle  de 
pended  on  certain  personal  qualities  in  the  leaders  rather 
than  on  professional  ability.  Military  knowledge  was,  of 
course,  a  great  desideratum,  and,  as  the  native  officers 
possessed  nothing  of  the  kind,  when  Lee,  Gates,  Von 
Steuben,  and  Montgomery,  four  experienced  disciplina 
rians,  proffered  their  swords,  their  value  was  properly 
estimated.  But  to  possess  this  knowledge  was  one  thing  ; 
to  impart  it  another.  The  very  spirit  which  had  thrown 
the  Americans  together  for  the  defence  of  their  country 
indisposed  them  to  submit  to  the  regulations  which  would 
make  their  union  efficient.  They  had  been  so  nurtured  in 
the  habit  of  thinking  and  doing  as  they  pleased  that  they 
were  not  prepared  to  yield  obedience,  even  for  a  time, 
except  where  their  own  wills  were  consulted.  Knowing 
nothing  of  the  good  of  subordination,  they  saw  only  its 
exactions.  Thus  the  troops  of  different  colonies  consid 
ered  themselves  perfectly  independent  of  each  other,  and 
would  only  serve  under  their  own  officers;  and  these  dis 
agreements  were  multiplied  in  every  possible  shape  when 
the  fever-heat  of  the  first  campaign  had  gone  off,  and  left 
them  to  its  privation  and  fatigue.  Their  leaders  were 
absorbed  in  the  prospective  blessings  of  the  struggle; 
they  felt  more  acutely  the  immediate  sacrifice.  Thus  he 
proved  himself  the  best  commander  who  was  most  pro 
ficient  in  the  art  of  reconciling  their  discordance,  and 
keeping  up  a  spirit  of  good-will.  Unanimity  of  feeling 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  95 

fed  the  flame  of  devotion,  steeled  them  to  suffering,  and 
bowed  them  to  discipline.  This  fact  places  the  personal 
characters  of  the  officers  in  a  new  and  interesting  light, 
for  the  question  as  to  qualification  was  not  here,  havo 
you  the  most  courage?  are  you  the  best  soldier?  but, 
have  you  the  most  temper?  are  you  the  better  man?  A 
knowledge  of  human  nature  took  precedence  of  tactics, 
and  to  be  a  great  commander  was  to  be  no  mean  phi 
losopher.  Thus  the  mystery  is  explained  how  Washington 
contrived  to  keep  an  army  about  him  in  all  his  great 
straits  and  reverses;  how  Lee  succeeded  in  introducing 
so  much  organization ;  and  how  Montgomery  and  Arnold 
were  enabled  to  invade  Canada.  Nevertheless  this  popu 
larity  was  but  one  step  towards  success,  for  only  those 
officers  who  conformed  to  their  leader's  policy  throughout 
the  conflict  were  really  instrumental  to  its  grand  result. 

Green  and  Gates,  it  appears,  were  Washington's  favor 
ites.  They  were  men  of  a  similarly  cool,  considerative 
character,  adherents  of  his  " Fabian  system, "and  by  many 
credited  with  having  shaped  his  most  important  plans. 
Lee  and  Arnold,  on  the  contrary,  were  the  favorites  of 
the  army,  and  advocates  of  an  opposite  principle.  To 
them  the  delays  and  manceuvrings  of  Washington  were 
as  wearying  as  they  were  to  the  English,  and  they  averred 
that  the  system  would  weaken  the  spirit  of  the  pursued 
more  fatally  than  the  resources  of  the  pursuers.  The  fact 
was  they  were  both  good  generals  of  division,  fine  fellows 
for  the  executive — a  pair  of  fiery,  headlong,  pell-mell 
fighters,  in  the  style  of  the  old  cavaliers,  who  thought  a 
victory  desirable  on  any  terms.  Arnold  had  more  knowl 
edge  of  localities,  and  greater  talent  in  collecting  resources, 
and  was  thus  enabled  to  accomplish  his  extraordinary 
march  into  Canada;  but  Lee  was,  in  every  sense,  the  bet 
ter  soldier  and  the  cleverer  man,  and  when  captured  by 
Colonel  Harcourt,  six  officers  of  nearly  equal  rank  were 


96  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

offered  in  exchange  for  him.  Montgomery  ("the  rebel 
eulogized  in  Parliament ")  well  deserved  his  reputation 
for  bravery,  skill,  and  goodness,  though  the  attempt  which  , 
cost  him  his  life  seems  to  impugn  his  judgment.  The 
venerable  Putnam,  the  Nestor  of  the  band,  had  less  mili 
tary  talent  than  patriotic  devotion  ;  and  Schuylcr,  Sullivan, 
Lincoln,  and  the  rest,  if  they  equalled  him  in  this  respect, 
did  not  exceed  him  in  activity.  To  aid  the  exertions  of 
these  single-minded  men  Germany  and  France  made,  in 
every  sense,  a  noble  contribution — witness  the  Barons 
Von  Steuben,  De  Glaubeck,  and  Von  Kalb ;  the  Marquis 
Chastelluz,  Count  Pulaski,  Lafayette,  and  Kosciusko. 

Amid  this  group  stands  out  Charles  Lee,  the  "  second 
in  command,"  and  the  first  in  ability  and  influence.  Lee 
was  a  strange  compound  of  good  and  evil.  By  nature 
high-spirited,  generous,  and  jovial,  he  resembled,  in  many 
points,  the  free  and  hearty  thinkers,  livers,  and  fighters 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  but,  unlike  them,  was  free  from  the 
love  of  lucre,  and  owed  all  his  impulse  to  an  ambition 
which  was  patriotic,  and,  but  for  its  excess,  would  have 
been  honorable  to  himself  and  beneficial  to  others.  But, 
in  his  ardor  for  the  general  good,  he  overlooked  the  ne 
cessity  for  individual  example.  His  temper,  naturally 
impetuous,  became  soured  by  long  submission  to  inferior 
minds,  while  his  convivial  habits  vulgarized  his  tastes  and 
relaxed  his  morals.  His  disappointments  in  Europe  in 
creased  his  yearnings  for  America,  and  there,  when  at 
length  his  hopes  were  frustrated,  all  the  energy  and  dig 
nity  he  had  left  fell  with  them.  He  had  set  his  heart 
upon  a  cast,  and  loss  was  moral  death. 

Those  who  accused  Lee  of  joining  the  Provincial  stand 
ard  only  out  of  pique  at  his  treatment  at  Whitehall  knew 
nothing  of  his  history.  He  had  been  a  Republican  even 
in  childhood,  when  at  school  in  Switzerland,  contrasting 
the  condition  of  her  hardy  mountaineers  with  that  of  the 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  97 

oppressed  peasantry  of  France ;  and  when  in  America, 
serving  under  Abercrombie,  he  wrote  a  pamphlet  on  the 
question  of  ceding  Canada  to  France,  which  proved  his 
early  sympathy  with  the  welfare  of  the  colonies.  In 
Portugal  he  gained  for  his  exertions  the  thanks  of  roy 
alty,  but  the  passing  of  the  Stamp  Act,  two  years  after 
wards,  drew  from  him  a  letter  which  excited  general 
notice  by  its  spirited  denunciation  of  the  folly  and  op 
pressiveness  of  that  measure ;  while  he  also  used  every 
effort  to  increase  the  spirit  of  resistance  to  it  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  A  soldier  whose  achievements  were 
of  this  kind  was  not  likely  to  bask  in  sunshine  at  White 
hall,  and  he  accordingly  got  leave  to  enter  the  Polish 
service,  where  he  became  aide-de-camp  to  the  king,  with 
the  rank  of  major-general.  Here  he  still  wielded  his  pen 
in  behalf  of  freedom  and  the  colonies  ;  but,  when  driven 
home  in  1773,  by  the  consequences  of  a  duel,  he  resolved 
to  throw  aside  a  weapon  the  time  for  which  seemed  past, 
and  to  offer  America  his  sword.  Thus  it  appears  that, 
with  the  exception  of  Lafayette,  not  one  of  the  patriots 
furnished  such  proofs  of  devotion  to  the  cause  as  Lee. 
By  his  writings  he  had  sacrificed  his  interests  at  home, 
and,  now  the  hour  was  come  for  action,  he  threw  into  the 
scale  an  income  of  nearly  £1000  a  year.  His  celebrity 
at  this  period,  both  as  a  soldier  and  a  politician,  may  be 
gathered  from  the  enthusiasm  with  which  all  classes 
hailed  his  advent.  Adams,  on  introducing  Paine  to  him, 
wrote,  "  The  whole  Whig  world  is  blessing  your  expedi 
tion  to  America,  and  no  one  more  so  than  myself ;"  and, 
indeed,  from  the  hour  that  he  planted  his  foot  upon  the 
strand,  he  became  a  moving  firebrand,  traversing  the 
States  from  north  to  south,  to  kindle  and  keep  up  resist 
ance.  It  is  even  very  probable  that  he  was  the  first  sug- 
gester  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in  his  letter  to 
Mr.  Rutledge,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  War,  in  1775,  in 


98  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

which  he  urges  the  necessity  of  the  measure,  as  the  only 
means  of  giving  stability  to  the  government,  and  obtain 
ing  that  assistance  from  France  and  Holland  which  would 
enable  the  army  to  continue  in  the  field.  Congress  eagerly 
secured  his  services,  and  he  was  appointed  to  the  chief 
command  in  the  South ;  but  his  successes  up  to  the  period 
of  his  capture  by  Colonel  Harcourt  raised  a  party  against 
him,  who  averred  that,  coveting  his  own  distinction  rather 
than  the  public  good,  he  now  aimed  at  supplanting  Wash 
ington,  by  endeavoring  to  throw  doubt  on  his  military 
judgment.  The  only  circumstance  which  lent  a  color  to 
this  suspicion  was  his  conduct  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth, 
where,  being  in  command,  with  an  opportunity  to  carry 
out  his  favorite  plan  of  attack,  Washington,  on  coming 
up,  found  him  retreating.  An  altercation  ensued,  in  which 
Lee  gave  way  to  his  usual  violence,  and  was  deposed  on 
the  spot,  Green  being  appointed  in  his  place.  Lee  then 
sent  two  furious  letters  to  the  Commander-in-chief,  wrho, 
to  maintain  subordination,  brought  him  before  a  court- 
martial,  which  suspended  him  for  a  twelvemonth.  This 
ended  his  career.  He  retired  to  a  small  property,  which 
he  had  purchased,  at  the  solicitation  of  his  friend  Gates, 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  there,  in  a  wretched  hovel,  with 
scarce  a  window  or  a  door,  he  passed  the  remainder  of 
his  days,  amid  a  kennel  of  dogs,  whom  his  philosophy  led 
him  to  consider  preferable  companions  to  men.  Of  Lee's 
character,  it  appears  to  me,  but  one  opinion  can  be  formed. 
Whatever  were  his  private  failings,  his  patriotism  was 
really  unimpeachable.  His  conduct  at  Monmouth  was  ex 
plained  by  the  fact  that  his  orders  were  discretionary,  and 
that,  finding  the  enemy  his  superior,  both  in  numbers  and 
position,  he  looked  on  a  retreat  as  inevitable,  in  order  to 
save  his  men.  It  is  obvious  he  fell  into  the  error  of  under 
rating  the  stamina  of  the  Provincial  troops,  who,  during 
the  year  and  a  half  he  had  been  a  prisoner  at  New  York, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  99 

had  greatly  improved  in  discipline,  and  been  fired  by  one 
or  two  successes.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  un 
happy  climax  of  his  career,  no  American  will  deny  that 
his  zeal  had  been  of  the  utmost  service  in  encouraging  all 
ranks  to  the  struggle  ;  though  it  is  equally  evident  he  was 
much  more  fitted  to  commence  an  outbreak  than  to  con 
duct  one  to  a  prosperous  conclusion.  Had  it  been  the 
destiny  of  Washington  to  fall,  and  Lee  had  succeeded 
him,  his  impetuosity  would  very  likely  have  compromised 
the  cause.  His  abilities,  both  as  a  soldier  and  a  writer, 
are  fully  evidenced  :  the  former  by  his  campaign  in  the 
Carolinas  (where  from  his  successes  against  Clinton  he 
was  termed  that  general's  "evil  genius"),  and  the  latter 
by  his  literary  and  political  publications,  and  his  corre 
spondence  with  Burke,  Franklin,  Adams,  etc.  To  his 
classical  attainments  he  added  a  wide  range  of  observa 
tion,  and  his  writings  afford  a  faithful  picture  of  his  mind. 
With  little  grace,  correctness,  or  connection,  they  are 
marked  by  an  intensity  of  purpose,  a  power  of  sarcasm, 
and  a  boldness  of  deduction  which  were  peculiar  to  the 
man.  Perhaps  the  most  important  tribute  to  his  literary 
power  was  the  published  assertion  of  Mr.  Girdlestone,  in 
1813,  that  in  General  Lee  he  had  discovered  that  much- 
disputed,  all-engrossing  problem  of  his  own  time— Junius. 
With  the  arguments  of  this  pamphlet  I  am  not  acquainted, 
but  I  should  say  they  do  not  rest  upon  the  internal  evi 
dence  of  style.  With  equal  ardor  in  the  cause  of  freedom, 
and  equal  scorn  of  place-men  and  abuses,  Lee  wants  the 
ease  and  polish,  the  logical  and  verbal  force,  the  brevity 
and  apothegm  which  have  rendered  Junius,  despite  of 
personalities,  an  English  classic. 

A  happy  specimen  of  Lee's  sarcasm  is  a  letter  to  Hume 
upon  his  "  History  of  England,"  in  which  he  thanks  the  au 
thor  for  bringing  him  to  a  true  knowledge  of  Charles  I., 
whom,  in  his  boyhood,  he  had  conceived  to  be  a  tyrant. 


100  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

His  comment  upon  Lord  North,  too,  is  as  ludicrous  as  it 
is  severe.  "I  do  believe,"  be  remarked,  "such  is  bis 
lordship's  hatred  of  the  name,  that  if  be  knew  there  was 
a  freeman  shivering  on  the  shores  of  Nova  Zembla,  and  he 
bad  bis  will,  he  would  put  his  country  to  the  expense  of 
fitting  out  an  army  and  a  fleet  to  extirpate  him." 

Most  of  the  anecdotes  that  were  told  of  Lee  had  refer 
ence  to  his  eccentric  love  of  dogs,  and  some  of  them  at 
tested  that  his  humor  was  as  strong  as  his  "animal  pas 
sion."  My  reader  will,  perhaps,  scarcely  credit  the  fol 
lowing,  but  it  is  a  fact.  After  the  peace  he  was  a  good 
deal  pestered  by  an  actor  who  begged  him  to  patronize  an 
evening  entertainment  at  a  neighboring  tavern.  Lee  for 
some  time  demurred,  on  the  ground  of  bis  secluded  life 
and  changed  tastes,  but  as  the  applicant  went  on  to  lay 
great  stress  on  bis  name  and  connections,  be  observed, 
"  Oh,  then  it's  not  merely  me  you  wish  to  come,  but  my 
friends."  "  Certainly,  general,  your  friends."  "  Well, 
sir,  I  have  but  five  friends  in  the  world,  and  those  I  con 
sent  to  bring  with  me  on  condition  that  you  secure  for  us 
the  six  front  chairs,  so  that  we  may  see  and  hear  without 
interruption."  This  proviso  was  readily  agreed  to;  Lee 
paid  for  the  tickets,  and  away  bopped  the  manager,  rub 
bing  bis  bands  at  bis  unhoped-for  success.  When  the 
night  came  the  room  overflowed  and  there  was  a  loud 
outcry  for  chairs,  but  the  six  in  front  were  sacred  to  "  Gen 
eral  Lee  and  his  friends."  The  candles  were  lit;  the  black 
fiddlers  had  executed  an  overture;  the  time  of  perform 
ance  had  arrived,  but  not  the  general,  so  its  commence 
ment  was  delayed  in  deference  to  the  six  front  chairs. 
At  length,  when  expectation  had  reached  fever-heat,  an 
altercation  with  the  doorkeeper  was  beard,  and  a  report 
arose  that  the  general's  friends  were  refused  admittance. 
Every  one  rose  in  consternation,  and  the  gentlemen  called 
out  for  the  manager.  Down  rushed  the  affrighted  Thes- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  101 

plan  in  time  to  hear  Lee  deliver  one  of  those  verhal  thun 
derbolts  which  had  been  said  to  electrify  their  objects  on 
training-days.  "  Stand  back,  sir !"  shouted  the  director  to 
his  servant ;  "  don't  you  know  General  Lee  has  a  party? 
Permit  me,  general,  to  apologize."  He  was  advancing  to 
do  so,  when  the  veteran  strode  in,  and,  lo!  at  his  heels  his 
five  favorite  hounds,  each  carrying  a  ticket  in  its  mouth. 
The  petrified  spectator  had  only  breath  for  an  exclama 
tion,  as  Lee  proceeded  leisurely  to  his  seat  and  made  each 
of  the  dogs  mount  a  chair  and  compose  himself  in  the 
manner  that  they  usually  surrounded  his  table.  My  read 
er  may  surmise  the  effect  upon  the  company,  the  pro 
longed  peals  of  laughter  that  followed  the  first  simulta 
neous  shout,  not  a  little  enhanced  by  the  well-sustained 
gravity  of  the  general.  At  length  the  person  patronized 
gave  vent  to  his  astonishment  in  the  exclamation,  "  Good 
heavens!  general,  this  is  very  strange."  "Strange,  sir!" 
he  echoed ;  "  you  asked  me  to  bring  my  friends;  I  told 
you  that  I  had  but  five  in  the  world;  these  are  they.  I 
go  nowhere  without  them.  I  have  paid  for  their  tickets; 
you  have  secured  our  places;  so  go  on  with  the  perform 
ance."  These  words  were  decisive;  the  bell  rang;  the 
singers  came  forward;  but  the  instant  they  caught  sight 
of  five  such  extraordinary  critics,  each  swinging  out  some 
inches  of  tongue  in  proof  of  his  powers  of  discernment 
and  taste,  they,  too,  found  the  spectacle  irresistible.  This 
set  the  audience  off  again,  and  the  new  amusement  quite 
superseded  the  announced  one.  At  length  the  cachinna- 
tion  reached  its  climax,  for,  either  by  strong  sympathy 
or  Lee's  contrivance,  the  dogs  burst  suddenly  into  a  loud 
and  wild  howl,  which  threw  the  window-panes  into  an 
ague  fit,  and  brought  the  landlord  and  his  servants  rush 
ing  up-stairs.  Lee  now  rose,  and  with  infinite  gravity 
bowing  to  the  bewildered  director,  observed  that  his 
friends  having  so  loudly  expressed  their  gratification  at 


102  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

the  performance,  made  it  incumbent  on  him  to  tender  their 
collective  thanks,  as  he  most  respectfully  bade  them  good- 
evening.  He  then  bowed  to  the  audience  and  led  his 
"friends"  out.  As  may  be  supposed,  this  expedient 
quite  answered  its  purpose,  and  Lee  was  never  again  trou 
bled  for  his  patronage. 

To  balance  this  one  penchant  he  had  a  host  of  antipa 
thies,  the  strongest  of  which,  perhaps,  was  to  that  species 
of  the  fair  sex  who  at  an  age  when  the  sourest  crab  should 
lose  a  little  of  its  acidity,  forego  their  resemblance  to  an 
gels  to  delight  in  the  occupation  of  fleas — back-biting. 
A  slanderous  old  cat  seemed  to  him  the  true  antipodes  of 
a  noble  dog.  A  lady  of  this  description  of  whom  he  had 
heard  much,  but  who  was  ignorant  of  his  feelings,  met 
him  during  a  morning's  walk  surrounded  by  his  usual 
companions,  and  lisped,  "  Good-morning,  general.  La! 
how  strange;  always  with  these  animals  about  you;  you 
must  be  very  fond  of  dogs."  "  Yes,  madam,"  he  replied, 
fixing  his  eyes  most  significantly  on  hers,  "  dogs,  but  not 
"  the  "  other  animal "  was  sufficiently  understood. 

One  of  the  strongest  evidences  that  Lee  was  a  disap 
pointed  man  was  that,  much  as  he  loved  the  inspiration  of 
Bacchus,  it  seldom  had  a  divine  effect.  When  it  failed  to 
lull  him  to  forgetfulness,  it  roused  him  to  all  kinds  of 
splenetic  extravagance;  yet  it  was  only  on  these  occasions 
that  his  sayings  kept  pace  in  point  of  cleverness  with  his 
deeds,  as  cider  by  particular  nursing  may  be  worked  up 
into  champagne.  When  the  question  was  discussed  one 
evening,  after  dinner,  whether  the  King  of  France  would 
not  be  willing  to  lend  assistance  to  America  if  the  recov 
ery  of  Canada  were  held  out  as  an  inducement,  Lee  shook 
his  head.  "  What,"  exclaimed  a  native  officer,  "  do  you 
think  America  contains  no  baits  for  the  French  king  ?" 
"Oh,"  replied  he,  "I  have  no  doubt  if  you  asked  him  he 
would  sav  we  are  all  betes" 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  103 

Let  me,  however,  append  to  all  this  a  proof  that,  amid 
the  smoke  and  soot,  the  fires  of  a  noble  nature  would 
sometimes  force  their  way.  It  is  an  anecdote  I  received 
from  Colonel  Humphreys,  and  which  I  take  great  pleasure 
in  repeating. 

Lee  met  one  evening,  in  the  streets  of  Philadelphia,  an 
officer  who  had  served  with  him  in  the  Peninsula,  and 
then,  by  a  variety  of  misfortunes,  been  compelled  to  emi 
grate.  Finding  he  was  in  great  distress,  he  took  him 
home,  and,  unable  himself  to  relieve  him,  next  day  sent 
his  own  sword  to  a  wealthy  merchant  of  the  city  with  a 
note  to  the  effect  that  Charles  Lee,  who  had  drawn  this 
sword  for  the  independence  of  America,  was  now  without 
means  to  take  an  old  friend  out  of  trouble,  and  therefore 
offered  it  in  pledge  for  the  loan  of  a  certain  sum.  The 
merchant  replied  by  returning  the  weapon  with  a  check 
for  double  the  amount.  Lee  put  the  money  into  his 
friend's  hands  and  observed,  with  a  smile,  "  Do  you  re 
member,  Jack,  when  you  used  to  write  me  letters  abusing 
me  for  deserting  the  king  ?  Now,  I  hope  you'll  admit 
that  my  sword  has  done  some  good  in  America." 

The  death  of  Lee  had  something  in  it  very  touching, 
as  illustrative  of  the  unbroken  spirit  of  the  soldier.  A 
friend  calling  to  see  him  at  the  inn  where  he  was  lying  in 
Philadelphia,  found  him,  attended  by  a  faithful  Italian, 
sitting  upright  in  bed,  hands  clinched  on  its  frame,  and 
his  eyes  glaring  fiercely.  At  that  moment  he  imagined 
himself  once  more  amid  the  shock  and  shout  of  battle,  and 
as  the  fire  of  life  shot  up  its  latest  spark,  he  uttered  his 
last  words:  "  Stand  fast,  my  brave  grenadiers!" 

The  greatest  opposite  to  Lee  in  every  personal  charac 
teristic  was  Green,  one  of  the  most  amiable,  but  also  most 
resolute  of  men,  considering  his  initiatory  triumph  in 
bursting  sectarian  bonds  no  less  enthralling  than  those  of 
the  mother  country.  Incongruous  as  it  may  seem,  there 


104  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

was,  no  doubt,  much  in  his  education  as  a  Quaker  which 
fitted  him  for  the  duties  he  afterwards  undertook,  by  form 
ing  early  habits  of  temperance,  self-command,  and  endur 
ance.  Green  was  very  aptly  compared  by  Dr.  Franklin 
to  "  a  pool  of  clear  water  suddenly  congealed,"  yet  his 
manners  were  marked  by  a  quiet  affability  so  far  removed 
from  Quakerish  constraint  that  friend  and  enemy  found 
them  equally  engaging.  If  other  testimony  than  the  es 
teem  of  Washington  were  needed  to  show  this  man's  social 
excellence,  it  might  be  gathered  from  his  instructive  and 
conciliatory  communications  with  his  sect.  Of  his  merits 
as  a  soldier  his  brilliant  campaign  in  the  South,  which 
paved  the  way  for  Cornwallis's  surrender,  after  the  defeat 
at  Camden  had  made  the  Whig  cause  almost  hopeless,  is 
a  sufficient  attestation.  Notable  alike  for  coolness,  ener 
gy,  and  forethought,  had  Washington  been  called  away, 
Green  was  the  only  man  upon  whom  his  mantle  could 
have  fallen. 

He  was  reported  to  have  met  an  old  friend  of  his  fa 
ther's,  when  riding  out  for  a  survey  near  Guildford,  a 
few  days  previous  to  the  engagement.  The  disciple  of 
Fox  knew  him  in  an  instant,  and  with  clasped  hands  and 
horrified  eyes  stood  to  survey  this  stray  sheep  in  the  ob 
noxious  habilaments  of  his  new  calling.  Green  drew  up 
and  saluted  him.  "  So  Nathaniel,"  exclaimed  the  man  in 
drab,  with  a  heavy  sigh,  "it  is  thou!  I  have  heard  of 
thee  with  sorrow.  Dost  thou  know  thou  art  the  first 
man  among  thy  brethren  who  hath  drawn  the  sword  ?'J 
"  Yes,  friend,"  replied  he,  with  meek  decision,  "  and,  till 
our  liberties  are  secured,  I  shall  be  the  last  man  among 
my  brethren  to  sheathe  it." 

On  his  conduct  in  battle,  perhaps  Lord  Rawdon  made 
the  most  amusing  comment.  The  day  after  the  affair  at 
Guildford  his  lordship  was  breakfasting  with  Colonel  Tarle- 
ton,  and,  talking  over  the  engagement,  observed:  "Well, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  105 

I  don't  know  what  this  Green  may  be  in  a  chapel,  but 
curse  me  if  he's  a  Quaker  in  the  field."  "And  if  he's  not 
a  Quaker,"  rejoined  Tarleton,  as  he  pointed  to  the  list  of 
killed  and  wounded,  "  curse  me  if  he's  a,  friend." 

Of  such  a  man  Horatio  Gates  was  no  unworthy  coad 
jutor,  though  his  success  at  Saratoga  raised  expectations 
which  his  after-fortunes  failed  to  fulfil.  It  is  a  curious 
circumstance  that  he  should  have  served  with  Lee  in 
Portugal  under  Burgoyne,  and,  failing  to  obtain  promo 
tion,  should  have  emigrated  to  America  to  become  the 
capturer  of  his  old  commander.  General  Gates  was  an 
instance  of  the  good  old  high-principled,  well-informed 
English  officer,  a  class  which  has  presented  the  world 
with  some  of  the  most  favorable  specimens  of  the  national 
character.  His  manners  were  so  attractive,  his  mind  so 
well  stored,  that  no  man  enjoyed  a  larger  measure  of  per 
sonal  esteem.  Lee,  in  his  eccentric  moments,  used  to  say, 
"The  army  likes  Washington  because  he's  a  patriot;  me 
because  I'm  a  soldier,  and  Gates  because  he's  a  gentle 
man."  He  was,  moreover,  a  pleasant  companion,  with  a 
bent  for  repartee.  It  was  supposed  that  when  he  and  Lee 
accepted  command,  they  still  held  commissions  in  the  Eng 
lish  service,  and  consequently  were  liable  to  the  penalty 
of  traitors.  A  friend,'  hearing  this,  observed  to  him, 
"  Good  heavens,  Gates,  is  it  the  fact  that  if  you  are  taken 
you  are  likely  to  be  hanged  ?"  "  I  believe  so,"  he  replied; 
"  but  what  of  that  ?  I  have  for  a  long  while  been  sus 
pended." 

It  was  America's  boast  that  the  war  had  produced  but 
one  Arnold.  Fortunately  the  world  has  not  produced 
many.  To  the  credit  of  humanity  such  villains  are  not 
natural  to  the  events  which  beget  them,  and  their  black 
ness  offends  the  more  from  the  contrasting  brightness 
around.  Arnold  was  a  sort  of  social  wrecker,  only  thriv 
ing  upon  storms;  a  foul  fungus  which  still  flourished 

5* 


106  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

where  fruit  and  flower  were  crushed.  He  began  life  as 
the  keeper  of  a  liquor  shop  on  the  wharves  of  New  York; 
then  fitted  out  a  schooner  and  smuggled  slaves  from  the 
West  Indies;  afterwards,  as  a  general  agent,  brought 
some  scores  of  people  to  ruin;  and,  on  the  breaking-out 
of  hostilities,  took  to  patriotism,  as  the  only  trade  left 
him.  But  that  the  service  of  Liberty  surrounds  the  mean 
est  head  with  a  halo,  and  is  supposed  to  purify  the  gross 
est  materials,  it  would  be  a  wonder  how  such  a  man,  with 
all  his  talent,  ever  rose  to  command.  It  is  obvious  that 
while  winning  the  gratitude  of  his  country  he  was  sup 
porting  a  laborious  hypocrisy,  anxiously  calculating  which 
service  would  pay  him  best,  till  his  career  at  Philadelphia 
brought  him  to  a  decision.  There,  in  emulation  of  Gen 
eral  Howe,  he  kept  open  house,  gambled,  intrigued,  and 
plunged  into  debt,  when,  finding  he  could  obtain  no  more 
supplies,  he  communicated  with  Sir  Henry  Clinton  with  a 
view  of  raising  money  on  his  political  integrity.  To  the 
disgrace  of  that  otherwise  exemplary  ofiicer,  and  of  the 
cause  he  was  engaged  in,  Arnold's  plan  to  betray  West 
Point  was  entertained,  arid  on  its  failure  his  old  luck  did 
not  desert  him.  Nicodemus  conveyed  him  safely  on 
board  the  English  sloop,  while  poor  Andre  was  seized  and 
condemned  to  swing  alone  upon  a  scarcely  merited  gib 
bet.  Yet  how  superior  was  Andre's  fate,  for  he  died  amid 
the  tears  of  even  his  enemies,  and  to  this  hour  his  mem 
ory  evokes  sympathy;  while  the  "  political  Judas,"  though 
he  lived  to  possess  a  pension  and  to  meet,  when  full  of 
years,  an  easy  death  in  England,  could  not  escape  the 
retributive  execration  by  which  the  uncompromising 
spirit  of  English  honor  adjusted  the  error  of  public  expe 
diency.  He  lived  an  exile  and  an  outcast  of  whom  both 
countries  were  ashamed. 

By  Sir  Henry  Clinton  he  appears  to  have  been  chiefly 
employed  as  a  Pandour,  and  it  is  sickening  to  observe  the 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  107 

activity  with  which  he  justified  the  appointment.  A 
mounted  fiend  could  hardly  in  less  time  have  spread  need 
less  flame  and  ruin.  Yet,  however  dead  he  might  be  to 
compunction,  the  general  contempt  must  have  rendered 
his  condition  anything  but  enviable.  Soon  after  he  land 
ed  on  the  coast  of  Virginia  he  saw  some  horses  in  a  field, 
and,  intent  on  making  an  advantageous  seizure,  called  to 
the  negro  in  charge  to  inquire  their  respective  merits. 
Oronoko  proved  very  communicative,  and  amused  Arnold 
with  the  appellations  by  which  he  distinguished  his  favor 
ites.  "  So,  then,"  said  the  querist,  "  you  call  that  gray 
horse,  because  he  carries  his  head  so  high,  General  Wash 
ington;  and  the  bay  one,  because  he  has  a  quiet  temper, 
General  Green  ;  now,  what  the  devil  do  you  call  that 
black,  shaggy  fellow,  that  is  looking  over  the  hedge  ?" 
"Why,  massa,  I  call  him  General  ArnoF,  'cause  he  so 
d d  bad;  he  always  run  away." 

The  reply  is  well  known,  yet  is  worthy  of  repetition, 
which  an  American  made  to  Arnold  on  being  asked  by 
him  what  treatment  he  might  expect  from  Congress, 
should  he  fall  into  its  hands.  "  Your  right  leg,  which 
was  wounded  at  Quebec  in  the  cause  of  freedom,"  said 
the  patriot,  "  it  would  cut  off  and  bury  with  military  hon 
ors,  but  the  rest  of  your  body  would  be  consigned  to  a 
gibbet." 

What  a  singular  contrast  to  such  a  character  was  La 
fayette,  the  most  chivalric  defender  of  human  rights  and 
freemen's  dignity  that  history  bids  us  honor;  one  who  re 
vived  the  entire  devotion  and  self-surrender  of  what  has 
been  termed  "  the  most  generous  era  of  the  world,"  not 
for  the  winning  of  a  woman's  smile  or  a  prince's  favor, 
but  to  promote  the  welfare  of  his  meanest  fellow-creat 
ure. 

Lafayette  was  the  only  man  of  modern  times  who  has 
approached  the  height  of  Washington.  Their  difference 


108  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

was  mental  and  partly  due  to  temperament,  for,  as  regards 
moral  qualities,  their  hearts  beat  pulse  for  pulse  and  they 
were  animated  by  the  same  spirit.  One  were  they  as 
twin  children  in  simplicity  and  ingenuousness;  one  as 
brothers,  in  energy  and  courage.  In  the  profounder  at 
tributes  of  the  legislator — calmness,  knowledge,  and  the 
power  of  weighing  principles — Washington  stood  alone; 
but  on  the  same  level  with  him  of  patriotic  faith  and  self- 
devotion  stood  Lafayette.  Perhaps  in  their  notions  of 
liberty  the  latter  was  more  ideal,  Washington  the  more 
philosophic;  the  one  aimed  at  establishing  republics  upon 
principles  only  compatible  with  a  large  diffusion  of  intel 
ligence;  the  other  at  adapting  government  to  the  present 
imperfections  of  mankind,  by  retaining  only  just  that 
measure  of  restraint  with  which  freedom  must  necessarily 
be  limited.  Lafayette,  however,  must  be  acknowledged 
as  the  high-priest  of  Cosmopolitanism,  or  the  love  of  man 
kind,  a  loftier  kind  of  virtue  surely  than  patriotism — the 
love  of  man  in  sections.  It  has  been  questioned  whether 
the  defence  of  one's  own  home  and  land  is  not,  after  all, 
as  much  a  matter  of  interest  as  of  principle.  But  what 
shall  we  say  of  a  man  who,  born  to  high  rank  and  ample 
fortune,  placed  at  court  as  a  captain  of  the  royal  guard, 
and  wedded  to  the  daughter  of  an  influential  nobleman, 
yet  sacrificed  every  honor  and  enjoyment  to  espouse  the 
interests  of  a  distant  country,  at  a  time  when  its  affairs 
appeared  so  hopeless  that  its  agents  in  Paris  were  unable 
even  to  provide  him  with  a  vessel.  His  words  on  that  oc 
casion  expressed  the  spirit  of  his  after-life:  "Then  I  will 
fit  one  out  myself."  Landing  at  Charleston,  in  1777,  when 
but  nineteen  years  of  age,  he  found  the  government  with 
out  resources  and  the  army  without  food  or  clothing, 
fleeing  before  the  Royalists.  He  instantly  raised  and 
equipped  a  body  of  men  at  his  own  expense,  then  entered 
the  army  as  a  volunteer.  After  rendering  important  ser- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA,  109 

vice  in  several  actions,  he  resolved,  in  1779,  to  aid  America 
more  effectually  by  inducing  France  to  lend  her  assist 
ance.  Through  his  exertions  this  end  was  accomplished, 
and  he  returned  to  America  to  command  a  regiment  for 
whose  equipment  and  support  he  raised  £2000  at  Balti 
more  upon  his  own  credit.  His  rescue  of  Richmond,  and 
long  trial  of  generalship  with  Cornwallis,  who  boasted 
that  "  the  boy  should  not  escape  him,"  are  among  the 
proofs  of  his  devotion  to  the  cause. 

Lafayette's  first  arrival  in  America  gave  such  an  im 
pulse  to  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  patriots  that  favorable 
auguries  were  again  entertained  of  the  war,  though  the 
royal  forces  were  then  everywhere  victorious.  A  gentle 
man  holding  a  Crown  appointment  thought  it  his  duty  to 
call  privately  on  the  young  adventurer  and  remonstrate 
with  him  on  his  desperate  intentions.  "  Do  you  not  see, 
sir,"  said  he,  "  that  there  is  but  one  fate  for  the  insurgents 
— a  speedy  and  complete  subjugation  ;  and  but  one  reward 
for  their  abettors,  be  they  who  they  may — privation,  dis 
appointment,  and,  most  likely,  death  ?"  Lafayette,  eying 
him  calmly,  replied,  "  I  came  here  to  die,  sir.  I  could  have 
lived  in  my  own  country." 

A  fellow-spirit  to  this  noble  man,  and  an  equally  im 
portant  aid  to  the  cause  he  embarked  in,  was  the  Baron 
Von  Steuben,  to  whom,  in  conjunction  with  Lee,  the  army 
may  be  said  to  have  owed  all  its  discipline.  The  baron 
had  been  trained  in  a  good  school,  for  he  resigned  the 
dignities  of  lieutenant-general  in  the  Prussian  army,  and 
favorite  aide-de-camp  of  Frederick  the  Great,  for  the 
moral  honors  of  a  patriotic  struggle.  The  value  of  his 
services  was  instantly  appreciated ;  Congress  appointed 
him  inspector-general  of  the  army ;  and  the  result  of  his 
efforts  fully  justified  the  expectations  that  had  been 
formed  of  him.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  his  sol 
diership,  no  man  surpassed  the  baron  in  one  of  the  most 


HO  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

popular  evidences  of  Republicanism — poverty;  though, 
in  strange  alliance  with  his  needs  and  principles,  lived  a 
touch  of  his  baronial  dignity,  for  he  was  as  proud  as  he 
was  poor.  Wishing  to  give  an  entertainment  to  the  Eng 
lish  officers  after  the  surrender  of  Yorktown,  as  other 
major-generals  had  done  before  him,  he  was  compelled  to 
sell  his  horse,  in  order  to  raise  the  money  required.  On 
a  previous  occasion  he  had  parted  with  his  silver  spoons 
and  forks,  to  gain  funds  to  reciprocate  the  civilities  of  his 
French  compatriots  ;  and  it  was  said  that  when  his  ser 
vant,  who  had  been  ordered  to  dispose  of  a  family  relic 
— a  silver-handled  carving-knife — asked  him  how  he  in 
tended  to  cut  up  his  beef,  he  replied,  "  If  I  can  get  noth 
ing  better,  I'll  beg  the  company's  permission  to  use  my 
sabre." 

Most  of  the  native  leaders  were  of  the  family  of  Cin- 
cinnatus,  but  no  one  so  strikingly  akin  to  that  celebrity 
as  the  patriarchal  Putnam,  whose  whole  life  was  such  an 
alternation  between  fighting  and  farming  that  one  would 
suppose  he  could  scarcely  have  had  time  to  bend  his 
sword  into  a  sickle  before  he  was  required  to  thump  it 
straight  again.  He  led  a  body  of  Provincials  through 
the  whole  of  the  French  war;  in  1762  accompanied  Lord 
Albemarle  against  the  Hay  anna;  in  1764  marched  a  na 
tive  regiment  against  the  Indians  on  the  Western  fron 
tiers;  in  1770,  joined  General  Lyman  in  exploring  the 
Mississippi;  and  was  enjoying  his  usual  relief  to  all  these 
duties — the  act  of  ploughing — when  the  news  reached 
him  of  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  with  England.  Calling 
to  a  boy  to  mind  his  oxen,  and  without  staying  to  change 
his  clothes,  or  even  wash  his  face,  he  sprang  upon  his 
horse,  and  rode  off  to  the  scene  of  action.  "  Old  Israel," 
as  he  was  fondly  rather  than  familiarly  called,  was  the 
beau  ideal  of  a  martial  Puritan,  and,  perhaps,  the  greatest 
favorite  with  the  country,  after  Washington,  for  even 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  Ill 

Green  did  not  command  so  general  and  deep  a  regard. 
Many  circumstances  combined  to  cause  this  result :  the 
useful  and  exemplary  character  of  his  long  life;  the  re 
nown  of  his  wolf  adventure ;  and  the  singularity  of  a  man, 
whose  days  had  reached  the  ordinary  limit,  rising  up,  as 
if  endued  with  new  being,  to  defend  the  dwellings  of  his 
children.  But,  with  all  his  military  spirit,  he  never  had 
the  credit  of  being  a  tactician.  The  fact  was  he  was  a 
soldier  upon  principle,  not  upon  system.  He  had  full 
faith  in  the  lawfulness  and  eflicacy  of  a  straightforward 
plan  of  exchanging  blows,  but  despised  the  tricks  and 
artifices  which  compose  the  science  of  what  the  world 
calls  generalship.  Of  one  warlike  essential  he  had  almost 
a  superfluity,  for  his  courage,  but  for  the  cause  in  which 
it  was  displayed,  might  have  been  termed  a  madness.  He, 
as  an  old  man,  laughed  at  dangers  which  blanched  the 
cheeks  of  the  young.  With  his  wolf  adventure  all,  in 
his  day,  were  familiar.  If  the  reader  be  not  so,  I  may 
briefly  state  that,  having  pursued  the  ravager  of  his  fold 
into  a  Connecticut  cavern,  the  aperture  to  which  was  only 
large  enough  to  permit  his  ingress  on  all  fours,  he  lit  a 
pine  branch  and  crept  in,  holding  the  light  before  him,  in 
order  to  discover  the  enemy's  position.  The  bright  glare 
of  her  eyeballs,  shining  like  two  lamps,  and  a  low,  signifi 
cant  growl,  soon  let  him  know  this,  and  he  gave  the  signal 
for  his  friends  to  drag  him  out  by  the  legs.  He  then 
loaded  his  gun  with  a  dozen  buckshot,  and,  relighting 
the  pine  branch,  again  entered  the  aperture — crept  near 
enough  to  take  a  certain  aim — and,  as  his  victim  was  on 
the  point  of  springing,  fired.  The  wolf  fell  back  with 
a  howl,  and  he,  resolutely  grasping  her  by  the  ears,  his 
friends  seized  him  by  the  heels,  and  they  were  drawn  out 
together. 

During  the  war  he  coveted  all  the  most  dangerous  posts 
and  expeditions,  and  his  uniform  success  created  a  confi- 


112  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

dence  in  him  amounting  to  superstition.  What  would 
have  seemed  folly  in  another,  with  him  was  a  mere  matter 
of  course.  When  he  was  encamped  with  Sullivan  and 
Stirling,  at  Flatbush,  he  undertook  to  convey  despatches 
to  the  Jerseys  through  Lord  Howe's  fleet,  in  an  open  boat, 
and,  though  overhauled  by  every  other  ship,  his  fearless 
ness  and  address  insured  his  safety.  He  was  soon  after 
pursued  by  a  troop  of  horse,  when  retreating  through 
Rhode  Island  with  a  piece  of  artillery.  His  party  man 
aged  to  drag  the  gun  to  an  eminence,  which  was  flanked 
by  a  swamp  and  thicket,  and  here  he,  with  a  few  others, 
loaded  and  fired,  keeping  the  horsemen  at  bay  till  nearly 
all  his  men  had  provided  for  their  safety;  then,  as  the 
enemy  rode  up,  he  leaped  his  steed  down  a  declivity 
which  not  one  man  out  of  forty  dared  to  risk  after  him, 
and  thus  escaped. 

Old  Israel  was  also  the  author  of  a  stock  of  clever  say 
ings,  in  the  style  of  Franklin,  to  make  the  soldiers  love 
duty  and  despise  danger ;  and  he  often  indulged  a  vein  of 
quiet  humor.  One  day,  while  at  work  in  his  fields,  he  was 
talking  over  that  fruitful  topic,  the  arbitrary  conduct  of 
Parliament,  when  a  laborer  asked  him  what  Parliament 
was  like.  "  Why,  Enoch,"  he  replied,  "  it's  like  the  Beast 
in  the  Apocalypse — all  horns  and  eyes."  More  felicitous, 
however,  was  a  term  which  he  bestowed  on  a  party  of 
officers  at  Weathersfield,  when  a  Scotch  regiment  was 
quartered  there,  which  had  imparted  a  national  source  of 
irritation,  elegantly  denominated  the  "Caledonian  Violin." 
This  regiment  numbered  six  noblemen,  all  of  whom  par 
took  in  the  general  restlessness;  and  some  baggage  of 
theirs — containing  sundry  boxes  of  ointment — having 
fallen  into  the  Provincials'  hands,  Putnam  henceforth 
designated  them  "  the  Lord's  anointed." 

The  Honorable  William  Alexander,  commonly  called 
Lord  Stirling,  though  his  title  was  disavowed  in  England, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  113 

was  a  striking  contrast  to  Putnam.  He  was  as  artificial 
as  the  other  was  natural ;  whether  owing  to  the  precise 
and  mathematical  nature  of  his  avocations — as  king's 
counsel  and  surveyor-general  of  East  Jersey — I  know  not, 
but  all  he  said  and  did  was  methodical,  and  his  life  was 
as  much  a  piece  of  machinery  as  his  frame.  As  to  his 
faith  in  discipline,  he  believed  it  was  possible  to  train 
men  to  anything;  and  not  men  only,  for  it  was  said  that 
he  offered  to  undertake  raising  a  creditable  regiment  of 
infantry  from  a  forest  of  ourang-outangs.  Yet  all  his 
military  knowledge  was  rendered  unavailable  by  his  un- 
conciliatory  manners,  though  he  was,  I  believe,  the  only 
American  officer  who  made  the  mistake  of  putting  soldier 
ship  above  more  human  qualities.  Of  so  marked  a  char 
acter  many  stories  were  current,  which  must  have  been 
exaggerations — such  as  his  seeing  a  man  pull  his  trigger 
with  the  second  finger,  and,  on  learning  that  he  had  lost 
the  use  of  the  first,  exclaiming,  "Then  why  the  devil  do 
not  you  cut  it  off?  Why  do  you  keep  a  thing  you  can't 
use?"  or  his  compelling  a  recruit,  who  had  walked  about 
forty  miles  to  join  him,  with  a  heavy  gun,  to  go  back  for 
a  ramrod,  saying  that  it  was  a  rule  in  his  regiments  "to 
supply  rods  only  to  the  refractory."  What  much  dis 
turbed  the  equanimity  of  this  disciple  of  the  Great  Fred 
erick  was  the  men  requesting  furloughs  to  go  home  and 
see  their  wives.  lie  could  not  perceive  the  most  distant 
connection  between  military  and  domestic  duty.  That  a 
soldier  should  require  the  stimulus  of  grog  after  a  hard 
day's  march,  or  work  in  the  trenches,  he  clearly  under 
stood,  but  the  effeminate  necessity  of  fondling  women  and 
children  was  perfectly  inexplicable.  lie  received,  how 
ever,  some  information  on  conjugal  matters  from  a  private, 
who  accosted  him  one  morning,  when  not  in  the  best  of 
tempers.  "You  want  to  go  home,  sir;  what  for?"  he 
queried.  "  To  see  my  wife,  general?"  " D — n  it,  sir,  aren't 


114  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

you  a  soldier  of  Congress?  is  not  duty  your  wife?  isn't 
your  country  your  wife?  "Not  exactly,  general,  for 
when  my  country  gets  licked  " — pointing  to  a  scar  on  his 
forehead — "  I  suffer,  but,  sometimes,  when  my  wife  gets 
licked,  I  benefit." 

As  an  instance  of  the  extreme  to  which  he  carried  sys 
tem,  it  was  related  of  him  that,  in  order  to  correct  a  lazy 
habit  in  a  young  officer,  he  appointed  him  to  call  him  up 
every  morning  at  five  o'clock  precisely.  Having  one  night 
received  intelligence  which  detained  him  at  a  council  till 
the  day-beam  peeped  in  at  the  window,  he  was  just  step 
ping  into  bed,  thoroughly  worn  out,  when  his  pupil  gave 
the  summons  at  his  door.  Springing  up  at  once,  he  made 
a  loud  clatter  with  his  boots,  and  exclaimed,  "Aye,  aye! 
I  was  just  rising." 

Another  extraordinary  man,  who  assisted  in  fanning 
the  flame  of  the  Revolution,  was  Ethan  Allen,  the  author 
of  a  work  called  "The  Oracles  of  Reason,"  which  exer 
cised  so  much  influence  at  home  that  the  Southerners 
termed  it  "The  Rhode  Island  Bible."  Allen  was  a  com 
pound  of  the  most  singular  extremes  ;  oil  and  water  would 
not  be  a  more  incongruous  mixture.  He  was  a  graft  of 
the  old  Cromwellian,  psalm-singing,  cut-and-thruster  upon 
the  free-and-easy,  bibacious  cavalier;  alternately  swear 
ing  and  praying ;  singing  hymns  and  anacrontics  ;  send 
ing  people  upwards  and  downwards.  You  entered  his 
presence  with  reverence,  and  left  it  with  wonder,  for  he 
was  a  Bobadil  and  Master  Stephen  combined ;  a  Niagara 
and  its  lake — all  thunder  one  moment  and  placidity  the 
next.  He  pretended  that  he  alone  possessed  the  secret  of 
enlightening  and  governing  a  people,  but  when  stated, 
this  proved  to  be  some  absurdity  too  empty  to  rebut,  yet 
dangerous  to  laugh  at.  Such  a  man  was  not  likely  to  be 
quiet  in  times  of  commotion.  He  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  a  party  of  long-sided  Vermonters,  termed  "Green  Moun- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  115 

tain  Boys,"  and,  on  being  joined  by  Arnold  (who  came  as 
his  colonel,  but  whom  ho  made  his  second),  he  achieved 
the  surprise  of  Ticonderoga,  the  key  to  the  Canadas,  which 
contained  much  ammunition,  but  was  garrisoned  by  only 
a  small  party.  The  commander  was  caught  in  his  bed, 
and  on  Allen  bidding  him  surrender,  or  he'd  send  his  soul 
to  hell  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  he  exclaimed,  "  Surrender? 
to  whom?"  "To  the  Lord  Jehovah  and  the  Congress  of 
America,"  was  the  reply. 

What  figure  he  would  have  cut  in  the  course  of  the 
conflict  it  is  impossible  to  determine,  as  his  career  was 
unluckily  ended  in  the  Canadas  by  his  falling  into  the 
hands  of  Sir  Guy  Carlton,  who  sent  him  a  prisoner  to 
England.  Notwithstanding  his  bombast,  Allen  had  much 
shrewdness,  but,  unfortunately,  the  profanity  of  his  clever 
sayings  often  neutralized  the  fun.  The  extreme  simplicity 
of  his  tastes  made  him  an  object  of  amusement  to  the 
English  at  New  York  (where  he  was  released  on  parole 
when  brought  from  Halifax).  Dining  one  day  with  a 
party  at  the  commander-in-chief's,  some  olives  were  on 
the  table,  to  which  he  helped  himself  with  the  rest,  and, 
seeing  they  were  very  small,  he  put  three  or  four  in  his 
mouth  at  once.  This  induced  a  general  smile,  and  his 
wry  faces  induced  his  host  to  ask  how  he  liked  them. 
"  Why,  Sir  William,"  said  he,  "  I  dare  say  it's  a  matter  of 
taste,  but  I  think  your  green  gages  arc  ra-a-ther  bitter." 

I  might  refer  to  others,  Montgomery,  Wayne,  Nash, 
Lincoln,  etc.,  but,  as  I  fear  this  string  has  now  been 
touched  until  its  tone  has  almost  gone,  will  only  try  to 
make  its  concluding  vibration  harmonious  by  repeating 
the  words  which  I  was  told  the  Polish  hero,  Kosciusko, 
pronounced  on  joining  the  standard,  that  was  here  lifted 
up  as  much  for  a  set  of  principles  as  a  race  of  men :  "  My 
name  is  Kosciusko  ;  I  was  born  in  Poland  ;  but  I  consider 
myself  a  citizen  of  every  government  which  aims  at  en 
larging  the  happiness  of  the  people  !" 


CHAPTER  VI. 

1798.— Trip  to  the  Delaware.— A  Serenade.— A  Boat  Adrift.— Five  Foreign 
Ambassadors. — Baltimore. — Madame  Jerome  Bonaparte  and  the  Mar 
chioness  of  Wellesley. — Political  Discords  and  Fatal  Harmonies. — Elec 
tions. — Merry's  Joke;  Rival  Candidates. — A  Petticoaterie. — Negroes  as 
Humorists ;  Happiness  in  Bondage ;  Theory  of  the  Origin  and  End  of 
Evil;  Sambotius  Quamina;  the  Burnt  Fly;  a  Planter's  Destiny;  Fault 
in  the  Solar  System ;  a  Pilot's  Reply ;  Significant  "  Hem ;"  Sleeping  Un 
consciousness  ;  Negro  Names ;  Hen  and  Egg ;  Three-fingered  Jack. — 
Merryland  and  Merrylanders. — Lord  Baltimore :  Letter  to  the  Swedes; 
Reply  to  an  Indian. — Dr.  Franklin  on  the  Origin  of  Tobacco. — General 
Washington  and  the  Dwarf. — Death  of  Merry;  Omens  ;  Epitaph. 

WIGNELL,  having  to  go  to  Philadelphia  on  business, 
placed  me  at  the  helm  of  his  affairs,  and  as  our  season  had 
now  exceeded  its  limit,  and  it  was  necessary  we  should  fill 
up  our  time  until  the  fever  should  have  left  Baltimore,  I 
thought  it  best  to-  divide  the  company  and  make  lecturing 
excursions  to  the  smaller  towns,  an  experiment  which  had 
been  often  tried  before  under  similar  circumstances.  Ac 
cordingly,  to  my  friend  Warren  I  committed  one  division, 
including  Mrs.  Merry  and  Cooper,  our  tragedians  ;  Mrs. 
Oldmixon  (the  wife  of  Sir  Johns,  formerly  Miss  George, 
the  siren  of  Vauxhall,  and,  as  an  actress,  heiress  to  all  the 
honors  of  Mrs.  Mattocks);  Blisset,  the  son  and  image  of  a 
truly  original  father,  and  Harwood,  a  clever  transcript  of 
John  Bannister.  Allotting  him  the  North  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  I  took  the  conduct  of  the  remainder — Fox, 
Francis,  Marshall,  Bates,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gillingham, 
our  operatic  force — and  resolved  upon  a  trip  to  the  Dela 
ware.  For  our  conveyance  I  engaged  a  sloop  to  Chester 
ton,  a  town  about  forty  miles  distant,  up  a  river  by  that 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  117 

name  which  runs  into  the  Chesapeake.  I  found  this  place 
to  be  so  small  and  so  indifferent  to  the  fine  arts  that, 
though  I  had  many  letters  of  recommendation,  but  two 
individuals  were  inclined  to  give  us  countenance,  namely, 
our  worthy  landlord,  Hodgson,  and  a  Captain  McKnight, 
who  was  an  actor  in  everything  but  name.  We  delivered 
our  entertainment  of  songs  and  recitations,  in  the  Assem 
bly  Room,  to  about  twenty  persons  (at  a  dollar  each),  more 
than  double  that  number  standing  outside  and  contenting 
themselves  with  reading  the  bill,  catching  fragments  of 
the  songs,  and  imagining  the  rest.  At  night,  therefore, 
some  of  the  company  resolved  on  going  round  the  town 
to  give  all  the  pretty  girls  a  serenade,  flattering  them 
selves  that  if  the  women — the  most  influential  part  of  all 
communities — once  heard  their  voices,  the  next  evening 
our  room  would  be  as  packed  as  the  "Black  Hole."  The 
compliment  was  so  novel  in  the  quiet  streets  of  this  se 
cluded  place  that  every  window  flew  up  and  some  score 
of  female  faces  popped  out,  which  was  considered  a  fa 
vorable  omen.  But  the  Delaware  maidens  were  better 
calculators ;  the  next  night  we  performed  to  only  ten  dol 
lars  ;  and  I  learned  that  "  they  could  not  think  of  paying 
to  hear  what  they  had  already  heard  for  nothing."  This 
was  a  hint,  so  next  day  I  obtained  conveyances  and  we 
visited  Dover,  Lewiston,  and  some  other  places,  varying 
in  size,  but  agreeing  so  much  in  spirit  that  the  pleasure  of 
the  trip  soon  began  to  overbalance  its  profit,  and,  like 
more  eminent  commanders,  I  was  compelled,  with  cha 
grin,  to  give  the  signal  for  retreat.  On  our  way  back  to 
Annapolis  we  luckily  found  the  packet  apparently  on  the 
eve  of  starting,  but  also  a  letter  from  my  wife  with  the 
news  of  a  child's  illness,  which  compelled  me  to  take  a 
horse  from  a  plough  and  ride  homeward  instantly,  leav 
ing  with  the  company  a  sum  which  I  thought  sufficient 
to  defray  their  expenses.  The  sloop,  however,  taking 


118  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

actually  two  days  longer  to  disembogue,  their  pockets 
had  to  undergo  a  similar  process,  and  starting  at  length 
with  a  wind  scarcely  sufficient  to  disarrange  a  lady's  hair, 
it  resulted  that  a  boat  which,  in  form,  was  very  like  a 
duck,  somewhat  resembled  that  bird  in  its  motion.  Cap 
tain  McKnight  had  been  so  fascinated  by  the  party  that 
he  resolved  to  accompany  them  on  their  voyage.  He  was 
a  very  pleasant  fellow,  and  though  rather  too  much  given 
to  practical  joking,  proved  on  this  occasion  their  guardian 
angel.  The  way  in  which  he  evinced  and  then  atoned  for 
his  roguery,  as  it  led  to  scenes  of  peculiar  eccentricity, 
I  cannot  avoid  relating. 

Gillingham,  my  singer  and  musician,  was  a  worthy  lit 
tle  fellow  whose  chief  blessing  had,  from  its  intensity, 
become  a  curse.  He  possessed  a  wife  who  loved  him  with 
such  ardent  devotion  that  she  was  perpetually  making 
him  miserable  by  her  endeavors  to  promote  his  happiness. 
Her  life  consisted  of  a  series  of  endearments ;  her  vital 
principle  seemed  to  be  communicated  from  his  lips,  and 
neither  time,  place,  nor  business  could  be  allowed  to  sus 
pend  its  operation.  Now,  as  our  little  fiddler  had  much 
more  of  Apollo  in  his  art  than  in  his  person,  and  Mrs.  G. 
was  neither  young  nor  ethereal — being  a  very  matter-of- 
fact  sort  of  person  of  about  thirteen  stone  weight — all 
this  Arcadianism  was  exceedingly  ludicrous.  Her  hus 
band  had  the  good  sense  to  be  ashamed  of  it,  and  Mc 
Knight  the  impertinence  to  attempt  its  correction. 

Mrs.  G.,  after  a  long,  long  quarter  of  an  hour's  absence, 
coming  up  to  the  deck  to  pursue  her  poor  victim  with  her 
usual  pretty  little  spousal  slang  of  "  Gilly,  my  dilly,"  he 
was  nowhere  to  be  found.  Cabin,  hold,  and  forecastle 
were  investigated  with  the  speed  of  lightning,  Mrs.  G.'s 
tones  and  terms  varying  from  the  playful  piano  of  "  Gill, 
my  dill,  I  know  where  you're  hiding!"  to  the  sharp  alto 
of  "  Gill,  you  devil,  why  don't  you  answer  ?"  but  Gill  was 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  119 

not  forthcoming.  At  once  the  horrible  impression  be 
came  general  that  he  had  tumbled  overboard.  Every 
thing  was  now  in  confusion.  Mrs.  G.'s  pipe  brought  all 
hands  upon  deck,  and  she  flew  about  like  a  wild -cat, 
charging  every  one  she  met  with  inhuman  apathy,  yet 
preventing  any  exercise  of  reflection.  Hold,  forecastle, 
and  cabin  were  again  ransacked,  Mrs.  G.  even  pulling 
the  ladies  from  their  berths  to  see  if  they  had  not  secreted 
her  Gill.  As  the  sloop  was  doing  little  more  than  drift 
along,  the  first  thought  on  deck  was  to  jump  into  the  boat 
and  row  back,  when  it  was  suddenly  discovered  that  it 
had  got  disengaged  and  was  floating  half  a  mile  astern  in 
the  middle  of  the  river.  What  with  Mrs.  G.'s  screams 
and  the  consternation  of  the  others,  the  scene  had  now 
reached  its  climax,  when  Gillingham,  who  had  all  this 
while  been  enjoying  a  nap  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat, 
awoke  and  perceived  his  situation.  But,  as  if  the  alarm 
was  never  to  subside,  he,  instead  of  seizing  the  oars  and 
pulling  resolutely  after  his  comrades,  began  to  shout  like 
a  maniac,  upon  which  Mrs.  G.,  who  had  just  sunk  into  a 
fit,  reanimated  with  new  vigor,  and,  darting  to  the  stern, 
began  a  response  in  tones  yet  shriller  and  more  sustained. 
The  little  fiddler  at  length  found  sense  to  grasp  the  oars, 
and  soon  came  up  with  the  vessel,  when,  after  his  wife 
had  half-crushed  him  with  her  clasp  and  smothered  him 
with  kisses,  they  ventured  to  ask  an  explanation  of  the 
mystery.  He  said  that,  overpowered  by  his  last  night's 
punch  (though  the  fact  was,  as  they  all  knew,  to  escape 
his  wife's  attentions),  he  had  lain  down  in  the  boat,  but 
not  before  taking  the  precaution  to  observe  that  its  rope 
was  secured  by  a  double  knot,  consequently  it  could  not 
have  got  loose  without  human  assistance.  Crew  and  com 
pany  were  equally  eager  in  declaring  their  innocence, 
when  all  eyes,  by  a  simultaneous  impulse,  settled  on  those 
of  McKnight,  in  which  a  roguish  sparkle,  breaking  forth 


120  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

from  their  affected  wonder,  betrayed  the  criminal.  They 
had  now  some  difficulty  in  restraining  Mrs.  Gillingham 
from  making  the  captain  undergo  the  fate  she  had  been 
led  to  think  was  her  husband's,  but  quiet  was  at  length 
restored  by  a  consideration  which,  like  Aaron's  rod,  swal 
lowed  up  all  others. 

Fully  expecting  to  reach  Annapolis  that  night,  the  com 
pany  had  expended  their  last  money  in  laying  in  a  grand 
but  solitary  meal;  the  shades  of  evening  were  now  falling 
around  them,  and  they  had  accomplished  but  half  the 
distance,  so  that  starvation  for  that  night  stared  them  in 
the  face.  A  general  assembly  was  therefore  held  in  the 
cabin  to  consider  the  readiest  means  to  adopt  for  the 
relief  of  their  wants.  As  they  could  not  muster  tenpence 
among  them,  the  debate  promised  to  be  a  long  one,  when 
suddenly  some  peculiar  sounds  broke  upon  their  ears; 
they  ran  up  to  the  deck,  and  perceived  that  they  were 
passing  a  plantation  which  was  the  scene  of  revelry  and 
feasting.  The  house  stood  at  the  end  of  a  lawn  that 
sloped  down  to  the  bank,  and  imbedded  a  luxurious  array 
of  barns,  sugar-houses,  hencoops,  and  piggeries.  Lights 
were  dancing  in  its  upper  windows,  shouts  were  coming 
from  its  lower  ones  ;  guests  were  pouring  in,  in  every  spe 
cies  of  vehicle,  and  the  "  niggers "  were  capering  about 
the  green  like  so  many  officers  of  his  Satanic  majesty's 
household,  come  up-stairs  on  parole.  This  was  a  scene 
which,  in  their  situation,  it  would  have  been  pleasanter 
to  partake  in  than  to  behold,  so  that  on  Captain  McKnight 
volunteering  to  go  on  shore  and  procure  them  a  reception, 
his  offer  restored  him  to  the  good  graces  even  of  Mrs. 
Gillingham.  Carrying  with  him  their  most  heartfelt,  or 
rather  stomach-felt,  aspirations  for  his  success,  he  returned 
in  about  half  an  hour  to  inform  them  that  he  had  told  the 
planter  they  were  a  party  of  foreign  ambassadors  proceed 
ing  to  General  Washington's  on  the  Potomac,  and  being 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  121 

badly  accommodated  in  the  sloop,  requested  the  favor  of 
a  night's  lodging.  The  planter  had  expressed  himself 
highly  honored  to  receive  them,  and  proffered  the  best 
his  house  afforded.  To  hoax  him,  therefore,  it  was  neces 
sary  they  should  array  themselves  in  some  stage  habil 
iments,  as  fine  and  as  old-fashioned  as  possible,  and 
play  certain  extemporaneous  characters  for  the  evening. 
Tempting  as  was  the  bait  —  a  Delaware  supper,  a  very 
encyclopaedia  of  meals  —  they  were  at  first  staggered  by 
the  proposition,  until  a  due  consideration  convincing  them 
that  its  performance  was  not  too  difficult,  left  them  no 
room  to  perceive  that  it  was  too  criminal.  Accordingly 
Bates  took  out  of  his  box  a  kind  of  Lord  Ogleby's  dress, 
for  the  English  ambassador;  Marshall  selected  a  sparkling, 
spangled  affair  for  the  Spaniard ;  Fox  spruced  himself  in 
the  costume  of  Lord  Trinket,  as  minister  of  France;  while 
Gillingham  and  Francis,  as  Austria  and  Russia,  put  on 
plain  brown  coats  and  black-silk  breeches;  all  of  them 
agreeing  in  certain  "properties"  which  were  no  doubt 
mistaken  for  official  insignia  —  bag-wigs,  ruffles,  hangers, 
and  snuff-boxes.  None  of  the  ladies  would  join  in  this 
enterprise  except  Mrs.  Gillingham,  who,  unwilling  to  trust 
her  treasure  from  her  sight,  arrayed  herself  in  black  vel 
vet  in  order  to  survey  the  farmers  as  Queen  Catherine  did 
Wolsey.  Captain  McKnight,  acting  as  their  secretary, 
with  a  spirit  well  worthy  of  the  genius  which  suggested 
the  hoax,  led  the  planter  and  his  son  to  the  sloop  to  re 
ceive  them,  the  guests  following  from  the  house  to  obtain 
a  view,  while  the  wondering  negroes  formed  an  avenue 
through  which  they  marched  with  all  imaginable  dignity. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  imposing  than  their  ap 
pearance,  or  more  strictly  in  character;  the  lights,  shin 
ing  on  their  buckles  and  spangles,  produced  a  glitter  which 
quite  dazzled  the  beholders,  while  they  sustained  the  illu 
sion  by  their  broken-English  chatter  and  grimaces.  In  a 

6 


122  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

short  time  the  gayety  of  the  society  was  quenched,  all 
was  awe  and  observation,  the  blacks  even  deserting  their 
gambols  on  the  grass  to  peep  at  them  through  the  win 
dows.  This  gave  them  confidence;  but  the  supper  being 
the  leading  cause  of  this  performance,  was  the  grand 
stimulant  to  their  genius.  Whilst  that  was  going  down 
they  were  winding  up.  Punch  of  the  very  best  mixture 
completed  the  charm  and  rendered  them  quite  communi 
cative  on  the  foreign  policy  of  America  and  the  state  of 
Europe.  They  discussed  the  resources  of  Great  Britain, 
the  designs  of  Russia,  and  the  results  of  the  French  Revo 
lution  (with  the  frequent  iteration  of  such  words  as  Kam- 
schatka,  Seringapatam,  and  Trincomalee)  until  every  one 
of  the  hearers,  completely  lockjawed,  sat  round  them  in 
a  spell-bound  circle,  fathers,  mothers,  and  children  fore 
going  all  the  objects  of  their  meeting  to  glean  the  least 
iota  of  their  wonderful  intelligence.  The  captain,  per 
haps,  would  state  some  extraordinary  piece  of  news,  which 
Bates,  in  English,  with  a  Lord  Burleigh  accompaniment, 
contradicted ;  Fox  and  Marshall  then  replied  to  him  in 
French;  Francis  attacked  them  in  Low  Dutch,  and  Gil- 
lingham  rebutted  the  whole  party  in  Japanese.  When 
they  had  worked  their  conversation  up  to  five  or  six  cli 
maxes,  and  apparently  edified  their  audience  to  the  extent 
of  their  capacities,  the  latter  drew  off  to  their  vehicles, 
and  they  to  some  exceedingly  soft  beds.  Meanwhile  their 
ladies  had  been  well  attended  to  by  the  females  of  the 
house;  and  in  the  morning,  after  being  provided  with  a 
sumptuous  breakfast,  the  distinguished  party  were  wait 
ed  upon  with  the  utmost  politeness  to  the  sloop  which, 
before  a  better  wind,  speedily  conveyed  them  home. 

The  planter's  guests  soon  spread  the  news  throughout 
Delaware  of  the  five  foreign  ambassadors  who  had  stopped 
at  Squire  Polwheel's  on  their  way  to  General  Washington, 
and  in  secluded  circles,  where  neither  ncwspapci'3  nor 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  123 

travellers  penetrated,  I  have  no  doubt  they  afforded  for 
some  time  as  much  speculation  as  many  more  important 
personages. 

As  soon  as  our  dismal  antagonist,  the  fever,  had  left  the 
field  open  at  Baltimors,  we  advanced  for  our  autumn  cam 
paign,  and,  brief  as  it  was,  were  liberally  compensated  for 
our  summer  losses.  The  only  event  which  distinguished 
this  visit  occurred  at  the  benefit  of  my  friend  Byrne,  who, 
having  an  extensive  teaching  wherever  he  went,  obtained 
the  singular  favor  from  the  principal  families  of  being 
allowed  the  assistance  of  his  young  pupils  in  a  set  of 
cotillions.  Among  them  he  had  the  honor  of  numbering 
Miss  Patterson,  afterwards  Madame  Jerome  Bonaparte, 
and  Miss  Caton,  the  present  Marchioness  of  Wellesley, 
both  ladies  making  their  debtit  in  public  as  dancers  on 
this  occasion. 

Baltimore  was  a  smaller  edition  of  New  York,  another 
market  and  counting-house,  but  with  one  marked  distinc 
tion.  Here  society  was  imbued  with  a  spirit  of  contro 
versy.  Political  discussion  was  as  much  the  staple  amuse 
ment  as  literature  was  in  Philadelphia,  and  whether  due 
to  meteorological  or  constitutional  causes  I  could  never 
discover;  but,  certes,  it  amounted  to  a  frenzy.  Men, 
women,  and  children  were  alike  affected,  and  all  equally 
argumentative  if  not  equally  profound.  This  gave  rise 
to  endless  discussions.  Brothers  and  partners,  identified 
in  commercial  but  differing  in  political  speculations,  would 
pass  each  other  in  the  street  without  recognition;  their 
wives  devotedly  took  up  the  cudgels  at  home;  and  their 
little  boys  pummelled  each  other  into  the  Adams  or  Jef 
ferson  view  of  the  subject  at  school.  This  party  spirit 
was  very  unpleasant  to  a  stranger,  and  would  have  been 
fatal  to  the  drama  (for  the  men  who  would  not  support 
the  same  minister  would  not  patronize  the  same  play), 
had  it  not  been  counterbalanced  in  some  degree  by  a 


124  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

native  conviviality  which,  bringing  them  together  at 
night,  made  their  discussions  flow  through  a  potent  stream 
of  port  which  speedily  melted  and  mingled  the  most  op 
posite  opinions.  To  the  stranger,  however,  this  remedy 
was  more  fatal  than  the  evil,  for  unless  a  man  had  gone 
through  a  course  of  Irish  seasoning  and  graduated  at  a 
six-bottle  college,  he  found  a  Baltimore  friendly  meeting 
was  a  danger  to  be  dreaded.  In  physics  we  find  the  source 
of  life  to  one  being  is  death  to  another,  and  the  heat  which 
breeds  a  worm  kills  a  seal.  So  also  in  "  socialities  " — if  I 
may  invent  such  a  word — habits  are  like  elements,  and 
the  staid  liver  who  daringly  rivals  the  well-trained  con- 
vivialist  is  speedily  forced  into  the  exclamation  of  the 
frogs:  "  It  may  be  fun  to  you,  but  to  me  it's  annihilation." 
Elections — in  any  part  of  the  Union  too  like  volcanic 
eruptions — here  were  at  their  worst.  The  philosophical 
traveller  who  passed  through  Baltimore  at  such  times 
consoled  himself  with  the  conclusion  that  all  this  period 
ical  vomiting  forth  of  fire  and  dirt  was  the  necessary 
escape  of  so  much  inflammable  gas,  denied  the  European 
vent  on  a  belligerent  neighbor.  But  the  temporary  resi 
dent,  exposed  to  actual  collision  with  the  crowd,  found  the 
absurdity  no  joke.  Merry  was  the  only  man  I  knew  for 
whom  it  had  a  relish.  To  him  it  was  a  substitute  for  the 
best  Madeira  or  a  fine  day's  fishing;  and  though  the  sur 
prising  plasticity  of  his  views,  which  ever  concurred  with 
those  of  the  last  speaker,  would  now  and  then  betray  the 
burlesque,  his  humor  always  acted  as  oil  to  any  irritation. 
I  was  walking  with  him  one  day  in  Baltimore,  when  we 
met  a  friend  of  ours,  a  Delaware  planter,  who  was  con 
spicuous  for  provincial  patriotism.  Merry  resolved  to 
attack  him,  so  with  consummate  gravity  remarked  :  "  How 
is  this,  Witherspoon  ?  I  hear  you  have  changed  your  prin 
ciples."  "I!"  he  exclaimed,  in  astonishment.  "Yes;  I 
heard  at  Colonel  Tomkins's  that  you  are  not  consistent." 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  125 

"  He  doesn't  mean  to  assert  that  I  have  given  up  the  ne 
cessity  of  extending  the  democratic  influence?  I  defy 
him  to  say  that  I  am  not  upright!"  "How  can  that  be," 
replied  Bob,  "if  you  are  all  on  one  side?" 

Occasionally  these  scufflings  produced  some  very  good 
hits.  Two  gentlemen  of  my  acquaintance,  Messrs.  A.  and 
B.,  met  after  a  contest  in  which  B.  had  been  the  success 
ful  candidate.  A.,  surprised  at  the  announcement,  ob 
served,  "How  was  it  possible  you  could  beat  C. ?  he  had 
everything  in  his  favor."  "  On  the  contrary,"  replied  B., 
"the  chances  were  mine.  In  the  first  place,  you  see,  I 
had  a  fluent  delivery  and  self-command ;  there  I  had  the 
advantage  of  him.  I  had  a  personal  knowledge  of  most 
of  the  electors;  there  I  had  the  advantage  of  him.  I  had 
nerve,  activity,  and  resolution;  there,  again,  I  had  the 
advantage  of  him.  He  is  a  good,  honest,  straightforward, 
well-meaning  fellow."  "And  there,"  replied  A.,  "  he  had 
the  advantage  of  you !" 

The  ladies,  as  I  have  before  observed,  took  part  in  the 
mania  to  purify  the  government,  but  their  deliveries  were 
not  always  as  felicitous  as  their  conceptions,  and  if  literal 
translations  seldom  give  the  meaning  of  an  author,  literal 
blunders  are  even  more  to  be  dreaded.  At  a  tea-table, 
one  evening,  where  the  rival  parties  were  being  appropri 
ately  discussed  in  "hot  water,"  two  fair  Andromaches 
were  blazoning  the  merits  of  their  respective  Hectors. 
"  My  husband,"  observed  one,  with  a  deliberate  emphasis 
and  look  which  threw  a  mountain  of  contempt  on  her  ad 
versary,  "has  always  stood  up  for  the  rights  of  the  people; 
history  will  say  of  him  that  he  was  ever  a  true  liberal." 
"And  is  not  my  husband,  also?"  exclaimed  the  other,  with 
energetic  rapidity,  eager  to  counteract  the  unfavorable 
innuendo.  "I  appeal  to  you,  ladies,  I  appeal  to  all  the 
ladies  in  the  room,  if  my  husband  isn't  known  to  be  the 
greatest  libertine  in  Maryland." 


126  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

My  fingers  have  been  long  itching  to  touch  upon  a 
bright  subject  —  the  blacks  —  the  great  humorists  of  the 
Union,  and,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  of 
their  debasement  and  wretchedness,  one  of  the  happiest 
races  of  people  I  have  ever  seen.  The  system  by  which 
men  are  degraded  to  the  level  of  brutes,  or  the  arguments 
which  would  justify  such  bondage,  every  unprejudiced 
mind  must  turn  from  with  horror.  It  is  a  stigma  on  the 
age,  the  people,  and  the  government  which  permits  it,  and 
the  anomaly  is  more  grievously  apparent  in  a  Union 
which,  but  for  this  blot,  would  present  a  combination  of 
the  most  beneficial  principles  that  the  world  has  yet  seen 
established.  But  when  this  is  admitted,  if  it  becomes  a 
question  whether  the  slave  can  be  happy  in  his  bonds — 
if  not  exposed  to  actual  bodily  suffering — the  seven  years 
I  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  his  constitutional  vivac 
ity  make  me  reply  in  the  affirmative.  Under  a  thick  skin, 
the  negro  seems  to  be  endued  with  very  sensitive  nerves; 
climate,  music,  and  kind  treatment  act  upon  him  like  elec 
tricity,  and  with  all  the  ignorance  of  the  child  he  pos 
sesses  its  disposition  for  enjoyment.  Toil,  in  ordinary 
cases,  is  but  a  dam  to  his  animal  spirits,  which  overflow 
with  greater  violence  at  the  hour  of  relaxation.  A  dance, 
a  song,  and  a  laugh  are  then  his  sole  desiderata.  All  this 
is,  no  doubt,  merely  sensual,  and  far  inferior  to  the  pleas 
ures  which  an  elevation  to  his  just  dignity  would  afford 
him ;  but  still,  nothing  can  be  more  erroneous  than  the 
impression  that  the  negro  is  not  to  the  full  extent  as  happy 
as  any  of  the  other  unenlightened  laborers  with  whom 
Europe  abounds.  It  seems  to  have  been  caused  partly  by. 
wrong  information  and  partly  by  reasoning  which  does 
more  credit  to  the  heart  than  the  head,  and  looks  on 
good  and  evil  as  positive  rather  than  relative.  Nature 
implants  equally  in  all  men  certain  feelings  for  their 
guidance,  a  sense  of  honor,  gratitude,  and  affection,  a 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  127 

love  of  life,  liberty,  and  bodily  ease ;  but  education  and 
habit  do  much  to  weaken  or  strengthen  these  endow 
ments.  Thus  the  Englishman,  who  has  been  educated 
in  the  love  and  possession  of  liberty,  cannot  see  how  the 
slave  can  be  happy  without  it.  But  the  latter,  having 
no  idea  of  the  enlightened  man's  enjoyments,  regards  lib 
erty  only  as  a  release  from  labor  and  an  enlarged  means 
of  gratifying  his  senses.  lie  is  like  a  man  whose  legs 
have  been  bound  from  infancy,  and  who  on  reaching 
manhood,  though  his  bonds  are  cut,  cannot  walk.  Such 
feelings  as  honor,  gratitude,  and  affection  will  force  them 
selves  out  according  to  the  nature  of  his  treatment,  but 
the  love  of  freedom  in  its  higher  sense  has  been  paralyzed 
with  his  intellect.  There  is  no  stronger  proof  of  this  than 
his  conduct  during  the  war.  When  Lords  Dunmore  and 
Cornwallis  so  repeatedly  offered  the  slaves  freedom  if 
they  would  join  the  royal  standard,  how  few  were  the 
instances  of  compliance.  So  completely  was  their  natural 
spirit  quenched  that  the  example  of  their  owners  fighting 
for  the  very  right  that  was  theirs  also  could  not  fire  them. 
If  the  slave  really  felt  the  loss  of  his  liberty,  would  he  not 
then  have  regained  it ;  or  indeed,  could  the  Americans  at 
any  time  have  kept  it  from  him  ?  Intelligence  made  all  the 
difference.  The  planter,  knowing  the  value  of  his  rights, 
was  willing  to  die  for  them;  the  benighted  negro  could  not 
weigh  them  against  a  whipping.  Thus  indifferent,  were  a 
general  manumission  to  take  place,  what  freedom  would 
be  to  the  black  without  a  preparatory  acquaintance  with 
its  duties  and  obligations,  let  miserable  Hayti  speak. 

But  it  will  be  said,  if  the  slave  has  not  mental  suffer 
ing,  look  at  his  bodily  oppression.  On  this  point  I  must 
confess  I  have  heard  much  more  than  I  have  seen.  The 
outrages  which  certainly  occasionally  occur  may  yet  be 
due  rather  to  individual  depravity  than  to  systematic  cru 
elty,  for  I  believe  it  has  been  ascertained  that  the  major- 


128  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA? 

ity  of  such  cases  Lave  been  chargeable  entirely  to  those 
fiends  of  overseers  who,  to  gratify  their  own  hellish  hu 
mors,  persuaded  their  masters  that  rigor  with  the  black 
was  a  necessary  economy  of  time  and  trouble.  However, 
the  advance  of  public  opinion,  which  every  year  becomes 
more  sensitive  to  the  dignity  of  human  nature,  must,  ere 
long,  cleanse  out  the  foul  stain  altogether.  With  every 
friend  to  the  permanent  prosperity  of  America,  I  trust 
that  that  day  is  fast  approaching ;  but  to  every  friend  of 
humanity  who  may  fret  overmuch  at  its  non-arrival,  I 
think  it  my  duty  to  tell  what  I  have  observed  of  the 
cheering  side  of  the  picture. 

I  have  termed  the  negroes  the  great  humorists  of  the 
Union,  and  in  many  respects  I  have  thought  them  like 
the  lower  Irish ;  with  the  same  confusion  of  ideas  and 
difficulty  of  clear  expression,  pouring  words  out  of  their 
mouths  on  the  high  tide  of  a  natural  drollery,  as  broad  as 
as  it  is  rapid.  But  this  characteristic  varied  with  their 
locality  and  occupation.  The  black  in  Maryland,  the 
most  social  state  in  the  Union,  found  more  favorable  op 
portunity  for  its  development  than  in  despotic  Georgia. 
And,  again,  the  liveried  and  napkined  shadow  who  flitted 
behind  the  chairs  at  a  city  festivity,  or  planted  himself  as 
a  background  to  the  snow  of  his  lady's  shoulders — like 
night  in  Switzerland — differed  materially  from  his  brother 
in  the  fields.  The  humor  of  the  latter,  arising  from  a, 
profound  simplicity  which  lowered  the  most  dignified  sub 
jects  into  ludicrous  lights  and  elevated  the  most  trivial 
into  importance,  was  Nature's  spontaneous  product  in  full 
bloom;  while  he  of  the  city  added  an  observation  of  all 
the  petty  arts,  tricks,  and  prejudices  of  the  society  he 
hung  upon,  so  as  to  reflect  his  master  or  mistress  in  a  kind 
of  hand-mirror;  this  knowledge  of  the  outside  of  life  in 
vesting  him  with  a  comical  self-importance.  Their  man 
ner  sufficiently  marked  their  difference.  The  one  was 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  129 

known  by  his  stooping  shoulders,  projected  head,  and  eyes 
half-closed  as  if  in  momentary  fear  that  their  sparkling 
fun  might  be  forcibly  quenched;  with  the  muscles  of  his 
mouth  ever  quivering  to  draw  up  its  heavy  curtain  of  flesh 
and  display  the  grinders  of  a  shark.  The  other  exhibited 
all  the  confidence  usually  arising  from  a  consciousness  of 
talent,  with  the  jutting  breast  of  a  tailor,  and  the  angular 
hop  of  a  Fantoccini;  eyes  and  mouth  ever  wide  open;  legs 
and  arms  perpetually  whirling;  his  replies  had  all  the  pop 
and  froth  of  ginger-beer;  he  was  a  smart,  eternally  buzz 
ing,  black  wasp.  It  might  be  supposed  that  in  every  re 
spect  the  negro  would  improve  in  the  measure  that  he 
departed  from  his  standard  hue,  and  in  respect  to  morals 
and  manners  this  is  the  case;  but  as  regards  humor  I 
must  affirm,  geologically,  that  I  never  knew  a  true  vein 
of  the  precious  metal  to  run  through  any  but  a  decided 
"  black  loam." 

I  once  read  the  fanciful  theory  of  an  old  "  New  England 
divine,"  who  strove  to  prove  a  very  awful  sympathy  be 
tween  matter  and  spirit,  by  connecting  the  negro's  color 
with  the  origin  of  evil.  He  asserted  that  Adam,  after  the 
Fall,  lost  his  angel  fairness  as  much  in  his  skin  as  his  soul; 
that  an  outward  and  visible  sign  of  the  internal  darkness 
was  the  means  adopted  by  divine  anger  to  attest  the  creat 
ure's  delinquency  ;  and  that  the  brand  of  Cain  and  the 
hide  of  Esau  were  the  stages  of  shade  by  which  human 
turpitude  advanced  to  tho  ultimate  depths  of  Ethiopian 
debasement.  The  worthy  theorist  felt  himself  thus  pro 
vided  with  data  to  calculate  the  end  of  the  world,  for, 
taking  the  extinction  of  error  or  sin  as  the  term  of  its 
existence,  he  argued  that  in  the  measure  in  which  black 
began  to  disappear  from  the  human  being  externally,  the 
light  of  truth  would  progressively  dawn  through  mulatto, 
quadroon,  and  octoroon  till  the  universal  heart  and  com 
plexion  returned  to  their  primitive  purity. 


130  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

If  this  theory  should  seem  plausible  to  my  reader,  I 
must,  in  justice,  inform  him  that  it  has  been  controverted 
by  several  African  philosophers,  who  have  investigated 
deeply  their  historical  metaphysics,  and  by  one  especially 
whoso  language,  assuming  the  more  inspired  form  of  po 
etry,  has  become  the  creed  of  his  race.  The  words  are 
these: 

"  Adam  was  a  fuss  man, 
Eba  was  anoder." 

This  little  mistake  in  physiology  my  reader  will  overlook 
when  he  considers  how  difficult  it  is  to  prove  the  identity 
of  anything  at  so  remote  a  period. 

"  Cain  a  was  a  bad  man, 
A  cause  he  kill  him  broder." 

The  pure  and  conclusive  strain  of  this  morality  forcibly 
disposes  us  for  the  reception  of  what  follows — 

"  When  Garra  Mighty  see  urn  dead, 

Massa  Cain  in  such  a  fright, 
He  tremble  from  him  toe  to  head 

And  den  he  turn  all  white!" 
— SAMBOTIUS  QUAMINA,  History  and  Metaphysics  of  Ncgroland. 

This  exposition  of  the  phenomenon,  while  it  unsettles  our 
common  belief,  places  the  New  England  divine  in  a  de 
cided  quandary;  yet  if  we  accept  the  premises  —  Cain's 
trembling  —  the  conclusion  seems  unavoidable,  for  the 
blackest  rascals  have  been  known  to  turn  pale  with  strong 
emotion.  The  same  learned  author — Sambo  Quam. — also 
proves  with  considerable  acuteness  that  our  notions  re 
specting  the  devil  are  exceedingly  vulgar,  and  unworthy 
of  an  enlightened  age.  According  to  his  deductions, 
Sathanas  protrudes  no  distinction  of  horns,  hoofs,  and 
tail,  such  as  might  scare  babies,  but  is  a  tall,  thin,  well- 
made  person,  of  a  sallow  complexion  and  with  rather  re- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  131 

laxed  muscles  and  large,  bushy  whiskers,  fond  of  smoking, 
swearing,  cock-fighting,  and  mint-sling. 

I  will  now  recount  some  of  the  grounds  of  my  convic 
tion  that  humor  (as  well  as,  I  may  add,  a  vein  of  melan 
choly)  is  specially  the  attribute  of  the  negro.  One  of  the 
heartiest  specimens  of  fun  I  ever  heard  was  the  chuckle 
of  a  youth  who  was  on  duty  with  a  fan  to  keep  the  flies 
from  disturbing  his  master's  rest,  and  who,  seeing  a  per 
severing  blue-bottle  light  on  the  planter's  flaming  promon 
tory  and  immediately  fly  off,  exclaimed,  "  Aha,  um  berry 
grad  o'  dat;  oo  burn  oo  foot  at  last,  massa  fly  !"  A  pen 
dant  to  this,  but  in  a  quieter  way,  was  the  reply  of  a 
domestic  who  went  to  communicate  the  news  of  his  mas 
ter's  sudden  death  to  a  near  neighbor.  The  latter,  on  re 
covering  from  the  first  shock,  observed,  with  a  sigh  of  res 
ignation,  "  Well,  Cicero,  there's  one  thing  to  console  us ; 
your  poor  master  had  a  d — d  bad  gout,  and  he's  gone  to 
happiness."  "Iss,  massa,  but  um  berry  sorry  he  hab'n 
gone  to  heb'n."  "Not  gone  to  heaven,  you  black  rascal! 
why?"  "Cause,  massa,  he  tell  a  me  he  should  never  be 
comforbable  anywhere  where  he  wasn'  berry  warm  !" 

A  trait  of  that  simplicity  which  is  usually  considered 
indigenous  to  Ireland  was  the  remark  of  the  exhilarated 
fiddler  who,  going  home  from  a  dance  one  dark  night,  fell 
over  some  rubbish  in  the  road,  and  with  difficulty  regain 
ing  his  legs,  exclaimed  to  his  companion,  "  Now,  Ca3sar, 
tell  a  me  iss — why  de  debil  do  a  sun  shine  all  day  when 
nobody  want  um,  and  nebber  shine  a  night,  when  it's  so 
berry  dark  gentium  can't  see  his  way?" 

I  have  heard  also  of  a  Charleston  pilot  who,  on  being 
asked  by  the  captain  how  much  water  there  was  within 
the  bar  (meaning,  of  course,  how  deep),  extended  his 
wondering  eyes  to  their  fullest  periphery  and  replied, 
"  Why,  massa,  what  a  strodnary  queshun !  do  a  tink  I 
ebber  measure  um  in  a  pint  pot?" 


132  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

But  this  was  not  the  usual  characteristic  of  a  Samboism. 
It  was  the  presence,  not  the  absence,  of  intelligence  which 
gave  it  a  relish,  and  lent  a  more  grotesque  effect  to  its 
mode  of  expression.  Few  things  have  contained  more  of 
the  essence  of  meaning  than  the  comment  of  a  Western 
Cato,  invited  to  take  a  glass  of  grog  at  a  tavern  by  a 
manumitted  friend,  who,  as  first  taster,  did  not  withdraw 
his  lips  till  he  had  subtracted  two  thirds  of  the  potation, 
when,  giving  a  loud  "hem!"  he  said  to  the  landlord, 
"Massa, I  tink  iss  berry  strong;  gib  a  little  water."  "Top, 
top,  Pompey!"  interrupted  Cato,  with  an  eloquent  wink, 
"fuss  I  should  like  to  cry  'hem!'" 

One  of  the  stories  that  amused  me  most,  from  the  mor 
al  justice  that  gave  edge  to  the  retort,  I  heard  during  a 
Southern  visit.  A  Jerseyman,  carried  by  business  to 
Georgia,  called  on  a  friend,  who  accompanied  him  on  a 
survey  of  the  country.  Night  coming  on  when  they  were 
some  distance  from  home,  they  took  possession  of  an  over 
seer's  hut  which  contained  a  couple  of  hammocks,  leaving 
a  negro,  who  attended  them,  to  lie  upon  the  floor.  This 
poor  fellow  it  seems  had,  during  the  day,  offended  the 
Jerseyman,  who,  nursing  a  pitiful  spite,  took  advantage 
of  the  moment  his  friend  and  the  black  were  asleep  to 
reach  his  hand  to  his  whip  and  bestow  a  smart  cut  on  the 
most  exposed  portion  of  the  somnolent  shadow  beneath. 
Agamemnon  bounded  up  as  with  a  galvanic  impulse,  and 
the  Jerseyman  threw  himself  back,  but  not  before  his 
motion  had  betrayed  him.  The  sufferer,  fearful  of  dis 
turbing  his  master,  could  only  apply  friction  to  the  irri 
tation,  and  lie  down  again.  The  next  day  being  passed 
in  the  neighborhood,  at  night  they  repaired  again  to  the 
hut,  when  our  hero  expressed  a  strong  wish  to  repose  out 
side.  This  led  to  a  disclosure,  upon  which  the  Jerseyman 
said,  in  his  defence,  "  If  I  struck  you,  Aggy,  it  must  have 
been  in  my  sleep;  a  man  may  do  many  things  in  his  sleep 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  133 

which  he  can't  remember  next  morning."  Such  an  expla 
nation  satisfied  the  planter,  and  perforce  his  property, 
but  it  conveyed  no  conviction  to  the  latter,  nor  was  it  the 
unction  he  required  for  his  skin.  It  was  the  Jerseyman's 
fate  this  night  to  go  off  first  and  give  his  victim  the 
pleasure  of  watching  him.  Rising  softly  on  his  legs,  Aggy 
approached  his  hammock,  and,  taking  down  the  brandy- 
keg  suspended  by  his  side,  emptied  its  contents.  The 
loss  was  discovered  the  first  thing  next  morning,  and 
Aggy  was  collared  and  charged  with  the  offence,  when, 
eying  the  tyrant  significantly,  he  replied,  "  Well,  massa, 
if  I  did  drink  um,  it  mus  hab  been  in  my  sleep;  a  man 
may  do  many  ting  in  his  sleep  he  can't  remember  next 
morninV  This  Rowland  for  an  Oliver  tickled  the  planter 
as  much  as  it  dumfounded  his  guest,  and  between  the 
two  Aggy  came  off  victorious. 

Among  other  American  mysteries  Europeans  have  often 
wondered  at  the  practice  of  bestowing  on  slaves  the  names 
of  all  the  conquerors,  military  or  moral,  in  classic  history. 
Caesar,  Pompey,  Cato,  Cicero,  Ulysses,  Agamemnon,  all 
constrained  to  return  from  the  Tartarean  regions,  but  with 
faces  so  begrimed  by  their  abode  there  that  it  was  evident 
they  had  not  been  able  to  take  a  dip  in  the  Styx  on  re- 
crossing  it.  So  singular  a  fact  has  given  rise  to  much 
speculation.  Did  the  planter,  intending  to  teach  a  polit 
ical  lesson  to  his  child,  thus  cast  down  the  idols  of  the  old 
republics  whose  worship  had  been  taught  in  academic 
groves,  in  order  to  impress  the  merits  of  his  country's 
worthies ;  or  wTas  it  that  he  gratified  his  own  sense  of 
power  by  exercising  mastership  over  such  mighty  names? 
Many  commonplace  minds,  however,  refer  the  cause  sim 
ply  to  the  natural  burlesque  importance  of  the  black,  and 
the  waggery  of  his  master.  My  readers  will,  perhaps, 
infer  that  the  custom  must  have  added  to  the  name-own 
er's  knowledge  of  antiquity,  which,  according  to  Mr.  Jef- 


134  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

ferson,  as  a  mental  stimulant  must  have  proved  a  political 
evil.  I  once  asked  one  of  the  "  high  denominations,"  who 
looked  more  than  ordinarily  inflated,  why  he  was  called 
Caesar.  "  Cause,  sar,"  said  he,  with  ineffable  dignity, 
"Caesar  a  berry  noble  name."  "  Oh,  then,  you  think  you 
have  a  right  to  it."  "  Iss,  sar  ;  unquestionably."  "  Per 
haps  you  imagine  you  are  the  descendant  of  a  Caesar." 
"Iss,  sar;  tu-ba-sure!"  "My  good  fellow,"  exclaimed  I, 
with  a  stare,  "do  you  know  who  Caesar  was?"  Here  I 
thought  I  must  have  sunk  under  the  reply  of  his  eyes, 
while  his  lip,  a  noble  scroll  at  all  times  to  his  Corinthian 
column,  curled  into  more  protuberant  majesty  as  he  ex 
claimed,  "Know  who  um  was,  sar?  Caesar,  Massa  Johnny 
say,  was  a  great  butcher.  So  am  I !" 

But  the  most  conclusive  testimony  I  ever  received  on 
the  point  of  natural  negro  intelligence  was  from  a  female, 
a«d  for  force  and  novelty  of  application  I  think  it  may 
challenge  rivalry  with  anything  recorded  of  the  sages. 

An  Othello,  who  had  lately  married,  was  plucked  from 
the  arms  of  his  devoted  wife  to  attend  his  master  on  a 
journey  to  the  North.  His  absence  extended  to  many 
months,  but  it  was  oil,  not  water,  to  the  flame  of  his  affec 
tion.  The  Fates  at  length  consenting  to  his  return  home 
wards,  he  rushed  to  enfold  his  Chloe  with  a  genuine  con 
jugal  spasm  (by-the-bye,  why  are  all  the  ladies  named 
from  the  classic  pastorals,  Chloe,  Phyllis,  etc.  ?  Another 
mystery).  As  nature  is  the  same  under  all  skins,  can  the 
joy  of  that  moment  be  depicted  on  paper  ?  Impossible  ! 
And  equally  impossible  would  it  be  to  describe  the  con 
sternation  with  which,  the  minute  after,  he  perceived  a 
little  lump  of  humanity  asleep  on  the  bed,  almost  white  ! 
"  Chloe  !"  he  exclaimed,  converging,  as  it  seemed,  every 
faculty  into  that  of  vision,  "what  dat  ?"  "Oo  child, 
Cato."  "My  child?"  "Iss,  a  fuss  pledge  of  my  'fec- 
tion."  "Debbel  take  a  wooman,  him  quite  white!"  Cato 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  135 

now  stood  mute  and  motionless,  gazing  at  his  wife  as 
if  his  eyes  would  scorch  her  up;  in  another  moment  his 
glance,  turning  to  a  convenient  oak  stick,  announced  that 
lie  was  about  to  inculcate  a  lesson  of  morality  in  one  of 
its  soundest  forms,  when  intuitive  perception  threw  a  flash 
on  Chloe's  brain  which  pointed  out  a  broad  passage  of 
escape.  Genius  acts  as  it  conceives,  with  vigor.  Seizing 
her  husband  by  the  wool  she  dragged  him  to  the  door  and 
pointed  to  a  group  of  fowls.  "  Cato,"  she  exclaimed,  with 
equal  fervor  and  decision,  "tell  a  me  dis — what  dat?" 
"A  hen."  "Oo  wicked  nigger,  what  color  is  urn  hen?" 
"Black."  "And  does'n  a  black  hen  lay  a  ichite  egg?" 
Here  she  paused  and  scanned  him  with  a  smile  of  tri 
umph  ;  the  blow  was  resistless ;  it  had  gone  home ;  had 
struck  him  like  a  wave  at  sea,  capsizing  and  flooding  him. 
Clasping  the  clever  dear  one  to  his  bosom,  now  wrapped 
in  more  than  Roman  dignity  of  innocence,  suspicion  and 
coolness  perished  together  in  the  hug. 

Of  the  sensitiveness  of  the  negro  to  sweet  sounds  a 
curious  proof  was  afforded  in  an  anecdote  related  to  me 
by  my  friend  Morris,  who  had  been  with  his  company 
in  Jamaica  when  the  head  and  hand  of  the  celebrated 
"  Three-fingered  Jack  "  were  brought  into  Kingston.  One 
of  the  company,  who  had  a  very  sweet  voice,  was  of  highly 
respectable  parentage,  and  had  quitted  England  owing  to 
an  unfortunate  attachment.  His  melancholy,  as  is  usually 
the  case,  led  him  to  take  long  rambles  in  the  country,  in 
which  he  was  occasionally  joined  by  another  of  the  actors, 
both  duly  mindful  to  avoid  certain  districts  known  to  be 
haunted  by  the  terrible  outlaw.  At  the  close  of  one  very 
sultry  day  he  and  his  friend  were  skirting  the  foot  of  a 
hill  when  they  came  to  an  umbrageous  palm,  under  which 
Herbert  proposed  they  should  open  their  wallet  and  take 
some  refreshment.  On  doing  so  they  discovered  that  they 
had  omitted  to  provide  themselves  with  brandy.  The 


136  RETROSPECTIONS    OF  AMERICA. 

friend,  espying  a  plantation  at  a  distance,  said  he  would 
go  there  to  obtain  some,  while  Herbert  threw  himself  on 
the  sward  to  await  his  return.  The  loneliness  and  stillness 
of  the  spot  brought  back  to  him  the  thought  of  home, 
and  he  gave  vent  to  his  oppressed  spirit  in  some  vocal 
effusion,  unconscious  that  the  savage  scourge  of  the  island, 
driven  by  hunger  from  his  hiding-place  on  the  hills,  had 
watched  the  display  of  the  provisions,  and,  on  his  friend's 
departure,  had  crept  softly  through  the  brushwood  to 
despatch  him.  Jack  had  drawn  sufficiently  near  for  his 
purpose,  and  was  on  the  point  of  raising  his  gun.  when 
Herbert's  lips  opened,  and  the  breathings  of  a  broken 
heart  fell  upon  his  ear.  They  arrested  his  arm.  He  lis 
tened  in  mute  attention,  and,  when  Herbert  ceased,  touched 
him  gently  with  the  butt  of  his  musket  and  said,  "Sing 
again,  massa!"  Herbert  started  up  with  a  cry  of  terror 
as  he  beheld  the  fearful  being  of  whom  he  had  been 
warned  standing  over,  and,  as  he  thought,  on  the  point 
of  destroying  him.  But  there  was  no  violence  in  the  out 
law's  eye.  He  grounded  his  gun,  and,  propping  his  chin 
on  its  muzzle,  repeated  his  request,  "  Sing  again,  massa." 
The  feelings  of  the  singer  may  be  surmised.  There  are, 
perhaps,  few  men  who  would  not  instantly  have  grown 
hoarse  through  agitation.  But  it  was  a  matter  of  more 
moment  than  his  ordinary  encores,  and  he  recommenced 
the  song  as  desired,  Jack  leaning  over  him  and  looking 
down  upon  him  with  a  gaze  of  interest  intense  enough 
for  affection.  My  reader,  who  must  have  heard  of  this 
person  as  one  of  the  most  brutal  and  ferocious  of  his 
class,  differing  only  from  the  forest  prowler  in  his  form, 
will  scarcely  credit  that  the  tears  trickled  from  his  eyes 
as  from  those  of  a  young  girl,  and  for  many  minutes  the 
whole  current  of  his  blood  seemed  changed.  Here  was 
another  mysterious  instance  of  the  charm  of  music — open 
ing,  as  it  seemed  to  do,  some  deep  and  secret  spring  of 


UNIVE 

of 
Ss^yfSS^     RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  137 

tenderness  till  that  moment  unknown,  and  most  likely 
from  that  moment  closed  forever.  Before  Herbert  a  sec 
ond  time  concluded  his  friend  came  in  sight,  hurrahing 
and  waving  a  spirit-flask.  Jack  instantly  levelled  his  gun, 
but,  looking  upon  the  singer  beside  him,  he  hesitated, 
grasped  a  handful  of  bread  and  meat  from  the  wallet,  and 
went  over  the  bushes  with  the  bound  of  a  tiger.  In  an 
instant  Herbert  was  upon  his  legs,  and  meeting  his  friend 
half-way,  dragged  him  back  to  the  plantation  before  he 
could  speak  a  word.  There,  wrhen  the  alarm  was  given, 
a  pursuit  was  at  once  commenced,  and  in  the  space  of  a 
few  days  Herbert  again  looked,  but  with  very  different 
sensations,  upon  the  head  and  the  hand  of  "  Three-fingered 
Jack." 

I  have  endeavored  to  give  the  leading  characteristics  - 
of  each  city  I  visited  ;  this  is  not  so  easy  with  the  States. 
In  the  country  every  man's  family  is  a  community  in 
itself.  Local  circumstances  chiefly  determined  the  set 
tler's  occupations,  and  the  habits  consequent  on  these  his 
social  character.  The  utmost  that  can  be  said  is  that 
if  New  England  was  the  manufacturing,  the  Middle 
States  the  commercial,  and  the  Southern  the  producing 
circles,  Maryland  produced  the  most  original  aspect  of 
the  group — for  it  was  the  independent.  It  always  seemed 
to  me  a  collection  of  country-houses  where  people  had 
either  been  born  with  wealth  or  had  retired  to  spend  it ; 
a  spot  which,  from  a  happy  union  of  influences  in  its  soil 
and  sky,  had  so  moulded  its  denizens'  characters  as  to  be 
come  one  wide  temple  of  mirth  and  sociability.  Here  the 
grand  product  was  good-humor;  the  great  exchange,  hos 
pitality;  the  one  avocation,  enjoyment.  Here  the  most 
restless  spirit  contentedly  folded  its  wing,  and  the  most 
inveterate  wanderer  was  tempted  to  stay  his  step.  The 
doors  seemed  to  me  a  useless  device  ;  they  were  made  to 
stand  open.  And  almost  equally  unnecessary  were  the  roofs, 


138  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

for  the  sky  was  always  smiling  approbation  on  what  was 
doing  below.  People  of  every  nation  and  prejudice  met 
here  to  subside  into  brotherhood,  and  the  genius  of  their 
hosts  exerted  itself  but  in  the  invention  of  new  spells  to 
support  such  an  influence.  To  sum  up  all  in  a  word — 
this  was  the  Ireland  of  America !  Surely  there  never  was 
such  a  permissible  corruption  of  a  name  as  that  by  which 
people  pronounced  this  region  Merryland.  I  had  but  one 
fault  to  find  with  it — Bob  Merry  should  have  been  its 
governor! 

I  feel  that  my  life,  as  seen  in  these  pages,  must  seem 
to  have  been  one  long  gleam  of  sunshine.  Blessed  with  a 
buoyant  heart  and  some  good-will  for  my  fellow-creatures, 
it  is  true  that  where  I  did  not  find  a  garden  I  planted  one; 
but  I  can  truly  say  that  I  linger  over  this  retrospect  with 
peculiar  fondness.  In  England  I  had  passed  the  spring 
and  summer  of  my  days,  but  here  came  the  fall  with  more 
than  usual  plenteousness.  It  was  indeed  a  season  of  fruits 
which  fed  and  fostered  every  volatile  particle  of  my  nat 
ure;  and,  though  I  passed  in  a  few  years  to  soberer 
scenes,  I  cannot  trace  this  reference  but  that  it  brightens 
up  in  memory's  setting  ray  with  the  full  glow  of  its  de 
parted  gladness. 

One  of  the  country  friends  whom  I  most  frequently 
visited  was  a  Mr.  O'Donnell ;  and  at  his  table  I  heard 
some  traditionary  traits  of  Lord  Baltimore,  who  brought 
over  the  first  settlers  of  Maryland — two  hundred  Roman 
Catholic  families — under  a  grant  from  Charles  I.  There 
seem  to  have  been,  in  this  man's  character,  many  pleasing 
prognostics  of  the  ultimate  felicity  of  his  adopted  circle. 
He  had  fortitude,  forethought,  and  a  deep,  undefiled  spring 
of  benevolence.  Thus  qualified  to  head  an  enterprise 
which  planted  the  tree  of  liberty  where  it  was  destined 
to  shoot  up  and  spread  its  grateful  shelter  over  thousands, 
his  spirit  seems  to  have  entered  into  the  atmosphere  of 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  139 

the  country  and  given  to  it  its  happy,  harmonizing  influ 
ence. 

Mr.  O'Donnell  had  in  his  possession  a  letter  from  Lord 
Baltimore  to  a  settlement  of  Swedes  on  the  Delaware,  who 
had  sent  to  ascertain  whether  he  intended  to  molest  them. 
As  my  friend  was  kind  enough  to  permit  my  copying  it, 
the  reader  may  not  object  to  my  inserting  a  few  lines 
which,  had  they  been  inscribed  on  every  emigrant's  ban 
ner,  might  have  kept  the  American  woods  from  the  stain 
of  much  crimson. 

"The  oppressed  of  one  country,  I  cannot  become  an 
oppressor  in  another.  To  me  America  is  a  city  of  refuge, 
not  strife.  The  rights  which  my  sovereign  may  have  com 
mitted  to  my  keeping  I  am  bound  to  guard,  but  these  do 
not  include  the  power  of  molesting  my  fellow-creatures. 
On  the  soil  where  I  am  a  stranger  our  children  may  be 
come  brothers.  With  God  and  our  consciences  for  our 
friends,  pride,  envy,  and  dissimulation  will  be  our  only 
enemies." 

As  an  evidence  of  the  intelligence  of  this  nobleman 
(the  emphasis  falls  properly  on  the  "noble"),  my  friend 
related  to  me  an  anecdote  of  the  mode  in  which  he  re 
ceived  a  deputation  from  an  Indian  tribe,  who  sent  to  him 
with  the  same  suspicions  as  the  Swedes.  The  chief  speak 
er,  after  learning  and  wondering  at  the  circumstances  of 
the  emigrant's  origin  and  advent,  remarked :  "  The  pale 
face  has  crossed  the  great  salt  lake  to  fight  with  the  red 
skin."  His  lordship  replied  that  this  was  not  so.  "How 
can  the  pale-face  sit  down  on  the  land  of  the  red  man  and 
not  drive  him  away?"  This  conference  was  being  held  at 
night  and  on  the  sea-beach,  when,  through  a  brilliant  dome 
of  stars,  the  moon  was  rising  from  her  summer  bath.  Lord 
Baltimore  pointed  to  the  sky,  and  (through  the  interpreter) 
replied,  "  Let  my  brother  look  at  those  stars — they  are 
many  ;  they  are  bright  and  glorious.  Such  are"  the  red 


140  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

men.  Will  the  yellow  star  which  is  now  coming  from  the 
lake  displace  them  or  put  out  their  glory  ?  Such  is  the 
white  man  !" 

Mr.  O'Donnell,  whose  head  was  as  full  of  anecdote  as 
his  heart  was  of  good-nature,  related  to  me  also  Doctor 
Franklin's  account  of  the  origin  of  tobacco,  which,  it  ap 
pears,  the  worthy  philosopher  was  in  the  habit  of  repeating 
whenever  he  listened  to  any  very  marvellous  narration, 
and  with  a  gravity,  I  understand,  well  worthy  of  the  cred 
ibility  of  his  details.  A  Swedish  minister,  he  said,  having 
on  one  occasion  convened  the  chiefs  of  the  Susquehanna 
Indians  to  hear  an  exposition  of  the  truths  of  his  belief, 
as  soon  as  he  had  concluded  one  of  them  rose  and  desired 
he  would  attend  to  their  tradition.  "In  the  beginning," 
said  he,  "  we  had  only  the  flesh  of  animals  to  eat,  and  if 
they  failed,  we  starved.  Two  of  our  hunters  having  killed 
a  deer,  boiled  a  part  of  it,  when  they  saw  a  young  woman 
walk  down  from  the  clouds  and  seat  herself  on  a  hill  hard 
by.  Said  one  to  another, '  It  is  a  spirit;  she  has  smelled  our 
venison  and  wishes  to  partake  of  it.'  They  accordingly 
offered  her  the  tongue,  which  she  ate  with  much  avidity, 
and  then  told  them,  ( Your  kindness  shall  be  rewarded ; 
come  here  twelve  moons  hence  and  receive  three  presents.' 
After  which  she  walked  up  into  the  clouds  again.  Our 
fathers  did  as  she  commanded,  and  found  that  where  she 
had  laid  her  right  hand  was  a  field  of  maize;  where  her 
left,  a  field  of  beans;  and  where  she  had  deposited  the 
most  honorable  part  of  her  person,  a  crop  of  tobacco  !" 

One  of  my  rambles  at  this  time  carried  me  over  to  West 
Jersey,  where  I  was  shown  the  grave  of  a  dwarf  who  had 
attracted  considerable  notice  about  the  time  of  the  com 
mencement  of  the  Avar.  He  was  scarcely  thirty-six  inches 
in  height,  yet  of  the  most  perfect  proportions.  But  it  was 
not  his  form  so  much  as  his  spirit  that  had  caused  his  ce 
lebrity.  The  royal  Thumb  was  not  invested  with  a  deeper 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  HI 

consciousness  of  his  own  importance.  This  seems  another 
of  the  curious  and  loving  provisions  of  Nature,  a  note  in 
the  grand  harmony,  by  which  as  the  frame  declines  from 
the  ordinary  standard  its  measure  of  self-esteem  increases, 
so  as  to  keep  the  object's  notions  on  the  point  of  personal 
dignity  always  on  a  level  with  those  of  his  companions, 
even  should  they  be  veritable  "sons  of  Anak."  To  the 
rest  of  the  world  only  does  this  prompting  of  Nature  ap 
pear  an  absurd  affectation,  because  they  do  not  see  why, 
as  the  bottle  grows  smaller,  the  spirit  should  necessarily 
become  more  essential.  Among  the  amusing  things  related 
of  him  was  his  interview  with  Washington,  who,  about 
the  time  of  the  Trenton  enterprise,  passed  a  night  in  the 
house  where  he  was  domesticated.  The  general  having 
discussed  a  variety  of  subjects  W7ith  him,  at  length  in 
quired  his  political  sentiments.  "  What  do  you  expect," 
said  he,  "will  be  the  result  of  the  war?"  "I  can  hardly 
at  present  form  an  opinion,"  replied  the  miniature,  "  for 
I  have  not  yet  taken  an  active  part." 

Our  season  had  sped  on  with  a  prosperity  commensurate 
with  the  enjoyment  of  our  private  hours,  when  both  were 
doomed  to  close  in  a  shock  and  gloom  which  for  many 
months  hung  over  our  little  circle,  defying  all  attempts 
to  dispel  it.  This  was  caused  by  the  death  of  my  dearly 
esteemed  friend,  Robert  Merry ;  the  amiable,  the  intel 
ligent,  the  truly-named  Merry;  he  who  from  his  boyhood 
had  enjoyed  the  eulogium  of  never  knowing  an  enemy, 
and  whose  life  had  been  one  long  act  of  sympathy  with 
others,  lighting  up  smiles  on  haggard  faces,  and  pouring 
upon  saddened  hearts  the  genial  influences  of  his  vivify 
ing  spirit.  At  the  meridian  hour,  which  was  gathering  to 
him  rich  returns  from  all  his  friends,  he  descended  to  the 
chamber  and  complexion  of  his  prototype — poor  Yorick. 

There  were  some  ominous  circumstances  connected  with 
Merry's  death  which  made  a  strong  impression  upon  me. 


142  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

I  am  not  of  a  superstitious  temperament,  and  in  all  inex 
plicable  matters  have  chosen  to  refer  their  mystery  to 
some  hidden  possibility  rather  than  trace  trivial  effects  to 
divine  agency.  But  so  many  cases  of  a  like  kind  have 
passed  before  me  that  they  have  had  at  least  one  good 
result — they  have  led  me  into  a  more  tolerant  spirit  in 
regard  to  points  of  faith.  I  have  long  since  felt  myself 
without  authority  to  consider  any  man's  belief  a  weakness 
because  he  cannot  account  for  it. 

Merry  had  been  latterly  employed  in  writing  a  play,  and 
one  morning  he  called  on  me  to  say  that  he  was  engaged 
to  dine  with  a  gentleman  who  was  going  to  London  and 
would  take  it  to  Mr.  Harris.  The  same  day  he  requested 
Mrs.  Merry  to  look  over  the  last  act  and  see  if  she  could 
suggest  any  improvement  in  its  catastrophe.  He  returned 
in  the  evening  in  high  spirits  from  his  friend's,  where  his 
more  than  usual  effervescence  had  elicited  an  observation, 
to  which  he  had  replied,  "  My  dear  fellow,  what  you  see 
me  I  have  been  for  these  forty  years,  and  shall  continue 
for  another  thirty."  Finding  his  wife  earnestly  engaged 
at  her  task,  he  would  not  disturb  her,  but  took  a  kiss  arid 
his  candle  and  went  up  to  bed.  Mrs.  Merry  had  dreamed,  a 
few  nights  before,  that  her  husband  had  died  suddenly  and 
had  appeared  to  her.  When  she  mentioned  this  to  him 
he  rallied  her  in  his  usual  way;  but  a  night  or  two  after 
he  dreamed  himself  that  his  brother  had  come  to  him  in 
deep  mourning,  and  when  asked  the  reason  had  turned 
away  and  hid  his  face;  upon  which  Mrs.  M.,  by  some  un 
accountable  impulse,  remarked,  "  It  was  for  you,  Robert !" 

Not  long  after  Merry  had  retired,  Mrs.  Merry  heard  a 
groan  proceeding,  as  it  appeared,  from  beneath  the  table, 
which  she  reasoned  herself  into  believing  a  delusion,  until 
it  was  repeated.  In  all  that  is  meant  by  the  term  "moral 
courage  "  I  do  not  think  that  this  truly  lovable  and  excel 
lent  woman  was  surpassed  even  by  Mrs.  Canning,  of  whose 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  143 

self-possession  I  have  given  so  striking  an  anecdote  in  a 
former  volume.  Had  a  robber  woke  her  in  the  night,  with 
a  pistol  at  her  ear,  she  would  have  looked  at  him  calmly 
and  selected  the  key  of  her  cabinet  with  a  steady  finger; 
but  her  mind  was  as  little  proof  against  the  terrors  of  the 
inexplicable  as  are  those  who  consider  them  communica 
tions  from  the  Deity.  She  accordingly  rang  the  bell  for 
her  host  and  hostess,  who,  imagining  it  was  the  trick  of 
some  unfeeling  rogue  in  the  street,  went  out  and  looked, 
but  without  effect ;  and  in  a  bleak  autumn  night,  the  sleet 
falling  and  freezing  fast,  they  did  not  think  it  probable 
that  any  one  would  purchase  amusement  so  dearly.  When 
they  had  returned  to  the  drawing-room,  Mrs.  Merry,  to 
get  rid  of  them,  assented  to  their  conviction  that  it  was 
mere  fancy  /  but  she  read  no  more  that  night. 

The  next  morning  Merry  rose  early,  apparently  quite 
well,  and  in  ignorance  of  the  above,  and,  descending  to 
the  garden,  where  he  usually  walked  before  breakfast,  met 
the  cook,  for  whom  he  had  his  pun  prepared  as  regularly 
as  she  had  his  coffee.  Mrs.  Merry  came  down  soon  after 
to  complete  her  revision  of  the  play,  and  the  servant  go 
ing  out  to  call  her  husband  when  the  breakfast  was  ready, 
found  him  stretched  upon  the  pathway  in  a  fit  of  apo 
plexy.  Here,  half-buried  in  the  snow  which  had  fallen 
plentifully  during  the  night,  it  is  probable  he  had  re 
mained  some  time,  incapable  of  rising  or  calling  for  assist 
ance.  The  chill  thus  received  must  have  hastened  the 
return  of  the  attack.  When  the  alarm  was  given,  Mrs. 
Merry  was  hurried  up-stairs  and  her  husband  conveyed 
to  the  drawing-room,  where  his  head  was  accidentally 
placed  exactly  upon  the  spot  whence  she  had  imagined 
the  groan  had  proceeded.  The  reader  may  conceive  her 
feelings  when,  on  entering  the  room,  she  perceived  this 
coincidence. 

Merry's  name  hurried  all  the  skill  of  Baltimore  to  his 


!44  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

assistance,  but  the  grasp  of  mortality  was  too  firm  to  be 
unloosed,  though  he  recovered  for  a  brief  space  the  full 
use  of  his  speech  and  his  mental  faculties,  and  with  them 
the  inseparable  flow  of  his  vivacity.  We  were  commenc- 
ino-  rehearsal  when  the  news  reached  the  theatre,  and  I 
flew  to  his  house  with  Wood,*  who  had  made  his  debut  a 
few  evenings  previous  in  the  comedy  of  "  Secrets  Worth 
Knowing."  We  found  Merry  propped  in  a  chair,  tapping 
his  snuif-box  and  smiling  a  reproof  at  his  wife's  emotion, 
while  the  physicians  were  holding  a  consultation  in  one 
corner  of  the  room.  When  his  eye  fell  upon  Wood  he 
could  not  restrain  his  ruling  propensity,  but,  taking  a 
pinch  of  snuff,  exclaimed,  "Aha!  now  the  consultation 
will  be  complete  ;  here's  Doctor  Plethora  come  to  see  me." 
Three  hours  after  this  he  breathed  his  last  (and  perhaps 
his  only)  sigh  upon  his  wife's  bosom. 

His  interment  drew  forth  the  strongest  expression  of 
private  sympathy  I  have  ever  witnessed;  it  appeared  to 
me  that  half  the  population  of  Maryland  walked  after  the 

*  WILLIAM  B.  WOOD.  Wood  is  only  remembered  in  the  present  day  by 
his  "Personal  Recollections  of  the  American  Stage,"  Philadelphia,  1855; 
a  valuable  contribution  to  dramatic  history,  and  a  good  example  of  the 
autobiographic  literature  in  which  so  many  members  of  his  profession  in 
former  generations  were  fond  of  indulging.  Wm.  B.  Wood  was  born  in 
Montreal,  in  1779,  his  father,  a  goldsmith  of  New  York,  having  gone  to 
the  Canadas  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  In  1798  he  made  his  first 
appearance  as  an  actor  with  the  Philadelphia  Company,  under  the  man 
agement  of  Wignell,  at  the  Annapolis  Theatre,  and  as  George  Barnwell. 
He  was  a  member  of  Mr.  Wignell's  company  in  Philadelphia,  and  treas 
urer  of  the  theatre  for  a  number  of  years.  In  180i  he  married  Juliana 
Westray,  an  actress  of  some  repute.  In  1810,  in  partnership  with  William 
Warren,  he  became  manager  of  the  Chestnut  Street  Theatre,  a  position  he 
held  for  sixteen  years.  He  took  formal  leave  of  the  stage  at  the  Walnut 
Street  Theatre  as  Sergeant  Austerlitz,  in  the  "Old  Guard,"  Nov.  18,  1846. 
He  died  in  Philadelphia,  in  1861.  He  was  a  close  student  of  his  profes 
sion,  and  won  his  way  by  hard  work  rather  than  by  inherent  talent  for  the 
stage.  He  played  many  parts  and  none  of  them  badly. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  145 

dismal  vehicle  which  now  shrouded  the  sun  of  our  circle. 
Many  men  have  passed  away  who  have  done  more  service 
to  their  country,  and  added  greater  treasures  to  its  litera 
ture,  and  who,  let  the  tide  of  time  sweep  at  its  will,  have 
cast  anchor  effectually  in  the  public  memory;  but  none 
have  had  hearts  which  beat  with  a  livelier  impulse  for  the 
well-being  of  humanity;  none  have  given  proofs  of  a  will 
ingness  to  do  more  had  the  ability  been  greater. 

In  compliance  with  Mrs.  Merry's  wish  I  wrote  his  epi 
taph,  which  I  now  insert  as  a  last  tribute  to  his  memory: 

Here  lies  Robert  Merry,  the  generous,  the  kind, 
Whose  name  was  the  truest  response  to  his  mind ; 
His  heart  Avith  no  burden  was  destined  to  heave, 
Save  in  listening  to  sorrows  he  could  not  relieve. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1799. — Life  in  Virginia;  a  Word  for  the  Planters;  the  War  a  Moral  Re 
generator;  Mannejs,  Tastes,  and  the  Ladies. — A  Planter's  Life  before 
the  War ;  Stratagems  to  Obtain  Companions ;  Ordinaries. — Public  Diver 
sions:  Racing  at  Williamsburgh  ;  Quarter-racing;  Hunting  in  Virginia ; 
an  Adventure.  —  Native  Traditions:  Captain  Smith;  his  Discipline; 
his  Replies ;  Pocahontas  in  England ;  an  Indian  Taking  the  Census. — 
Convicts  in  Virginia. — Dr.  Franklin's  Present  to  Sir  Robert  Walpole. — 
A  Humorous  Criminal;  Conviction  and  Conversion. — A  Governor's 
Speech  in  1670. — Lecturing  Excursion. — Cooper  the  Tragedian;  his 
Courage. — Virginia  Travelling. — Gallinippers  and  Mosquitoes.— Patriot 
Pigs. — Blacksmith's  Cure  for  Insanity. — General  Lee  and  the  Quakers. — 
A  Madagascar  Monster. — Tradition  of  " Blackboard's"  Skull. 

THE  summer  of  1799  I  passed  in  Virginia,  my  profes 
sional  visits,  alternating  between  Richmond  and  Norfolk, 
being  relieved  by  excursions  to  various  parts  of  the  state, 
at  the  invitation  of  that  truly  hospitable  race — the  plant 
ers.  Among  these  I  met  men  of  high  intelligence  and 
even  refinement,  whose  conviviality  not  making  its  agent 
its  end,  could  be,  like  their  own  summers,  as  radiant  as  it 
was  warm.  No  class  of  persons  that  I  know  of  has  been 
so  harshly  judged  as  the  planters,  the  sins  of  the  fathers 
having  been  visited  upon  the  tenth  generation.  Abroad 
and  at  home,  worthy  persons  whose  hearts  throw  a  mist 
round  their  brains  have  confounded  the  necessity  of  the 
present  with  the  evil  of  the  past,  have  let  the  crimes  of 
a  few  discolor  the  many,  and  the  iniquity  of  a  system 
vouch  for  that  of  individuals.  Herein  has  lain  the  error 
and  the  wrong.  Unless  a  man  has  been  Avilling  to  break 
up  this  system  at  the  cost  of  his  own  utter  ruin  he  has 
been  pronounced  a  selfish  barbarian,  a  loathsome  maggot 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  147 

complacently  fattening  on  corruption.  In  nine  cases  out 
of  ten  the  supporters  of  the  system  have  been  its  greatest 
victims.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  they  have  been  among 
its  sincerest  detesters.  It  certainly  is  no  enviable  lot  when 
a  man,  happening  to  be  born  on  a  particular  spot  which  is 
cursed  with  an  indisposable  legacy,  can  be  put  in  a  pillory 
by  every  enthusiast  who  makes  feeling,  not  fact,  his  rule 
of  reasoning.  I  do  not  remember  a  single  instance  of  a 
planter  defending  the  origin  of  his  possessions,  or  one  who 
defended  the  continuance  of  slavery  by  other  than  this 
single  argument;  that  human  agency  is  required  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  Southern  soil,  while  the  extreme  heat  is 
not  to  be  supported  save  by  Africans  or  natives.  The 
negro,  if  manumitted  and  paid  for  his  labor,  can  live  upon 
so  little  that  he  would  not  do  half  that  is  required;  and, 
till  the  country  becomes  so  populated  that  work  shall  be 
come  scarce,  the  white  will  never  take  his  place. 

As  to  the  planters,  look  at  their  education.  Were  the 
many  guilty  of  the  atrocities  which  have  been  proved 
against  a  few,  could  they  be  marvelled  at  when  we  con 
sider  the  furnace  in  which  they  have  been  heated  and 
hardened,  the  mode  in  which  they  have  been  trained  into 
indifference  to  fellow  flesh  and  blood,  a  habit  of  command 
and  unlimited  indulgence  ?  Like  the  old  feudal  barons, 
their  whole  life  is  a  temptation,  through  absence  of  re 
straint.  They  have  had  but  one  check  upon  their  passions 
— goodness  of  heart.  If  all  men's  forbearance  through  life 
could  be  brought  to  this  test  would  not  the  virtue  of  char 
ity  be  somewhat  more  catholic  ?  Again,  in  the  old  times  it 
was  next  to  impossible  for  a  man  to  rear  a  family  without 
relieving  the  abrupt  contrast  of  white  and  black  in-doors 
by  certain  intermediate  shades;  while  devotion  to  the  mys 
teries  of  mint-sling,  jockeyship,  and  cock-fighting  arose 
from  his  associating  only  with  his  own  class,  or  with  the 
worst  cxportations  of  Europe.  Insensible  to  the  pleasures 


148  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

of  refinement,  be  was  unconscious  of  the  necessity  of  ex 
ample,  and,  levelling  all  below  him  to  a  footing  with  his 
slaves,  felt  no  obligation  to  provide  for  human  dignity 
and  comfort  by  establishing  education.     In  the  North  the 
merchants  were  the  leading  body,  while  the  farmers  and 
mechanics  formed  a  middle  rank.     Society  in  the  South 
consisted  but  of  two  classes — high  and  low.     Here  the 
aristocracy  were  the  landowners,  to  whom  the  inhabitants 
of  cities  were  but  agents  for  the  export  of  their  produce. 
In  the  former,  the  education  of  the  middle  class  had  led 
to  a  general  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  the  poor.     In 
the  latter,  the  parcelling  of  property  into  comparative 
dukedoms  annihilated  a  medium  (for  the  farmers  of  the 
slave  states  were  too  few  to  be  considered),  and  there  was 
no  public  instruction  to  prevent  the  poor  from  falling  vic 
tims  to  the  worst  points  of  their  superiors.     It  can  be  no 
marvel,  therefore,  that  for  many  years  the  planters  were 
a  race  of  epicureans,  and  the  lower  orders  a  horde  of  vag 
abonds;  that  the  slaves  were  the  only  laborers  in  the  state, 
and  that  freedom,  either  in  high  or  low,  consisted  in  a 
mere  despotism  of  the  senses.    But  the  war  proved  a  great 
moral  as  well  as  political  regenerator.     At  the  first  threat 
of  oppression,  Virginia— the  effeminate,  dissolute  Virginia 
— roused  into  a  masculine  energy  which  fixed  tbe  eyes  of 
the  colonies.     She  formed  the  Southern  nucleus  of  resist 
ance,  her  proprietors  becoming  a  band  of  skilful  leaders, 
around  whom  gathered  legions  of  devoted  soldiers.     But 
this  was  not  all — she  grasped  her  less  decided  neighbors 
and  bound  them  indissolubly  to  the  Union,  for  Virginia 
and  New  England  may  be  truly  said  to  have  "  hooped " 
the  confederacy.     The  contest  gave  birth  to  no  higher 
evidences  of  patriotism  than  were  afforded  by  the  planters, 
when,  in  the  heart  of  the  English  army,  they  sundered  the 
ties  of  English  patronage,  provoking  the  confiscation  of 
their  property,  to  endure  every  species  of  personal  priva- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  149 

tion  —  some  proof  that  they  have  not  been  always  the 
selfish  and  cold-blooded  beings  they  have  so  often  been 
termed.  In  their  manners  they  have  ever  been  austere  to 
their  inferiors,  and,  when  abroad,  reserved  with  their 
equals;  but  all  frost  vanished  the  moment  you  crossed 
their  threshold.  That  was  a  minute  but  instantaneous 
division  between  the  frigid  and  the  torrid  zone;  a  warmth 
— truly  Irish — succeeded,  and  you  were  welcomed  to  a  land 
of  liberty.  In  all  their  domestic  arrangements  the  taste 
was  evidently  French,  with  some  local  modifications  which 
were  not  displeasing.  Though  deficient  in  architectural  - 
beauty  or  stability,  many  of  their  dwellings  were  inter 
nally  palaces.  Their  furniture,  pictures,  and  musical  in 
struments  were  all  imported  from  Europe.  But  this  did 
not  surprise  me  so  much  as  the  tone  of  their  conversation. 
Their  favorite  topics  were  European,  and  I  found  men 
leading  secluded  lives  in  the  woods  of  Virginia  perfectly 
an  fait  as  to  the  literary,  dramatic,  and  personal  gossip 
of  London  and  Paris.  But  the  mystery  was  soon  ex 
plained:  they  had  all  been  educated  in  France  or  England 
(a  practice  which  ceased  at  the  Revolution),  had  made  a 
tour  of  the  Continent,  and  maintained  a  voluminous  cor 
respondence  ever  since.  At  one  house  I  met  with  a  gen 
tleman  who  had  participated  in  my  revels  at  the  London 
clubs.  His  memory  was  a  storehouse  of  anecdote  which  he 
flavored  by  a  peculiarly  happy  faculty  of  imitation,  the 
rapturous  manner  in  which  the  company  recognized  the 
originals  often  making  me  look  round  to  see  if  I  was  not 
once  more  snugly  ensconced  over  the  piazza  at  Covent 
Garden. 

Of  the  planters'  ladies  I  must  speak  in  terms  of  unquali-  - 
fied  praise;  they  had  an  easy  kindliness  of  manner,  as  far 
removed  from  rudeness  as  from  reserve,  which  being  nat 
ural  to  them  (for  they  mixed  with  no  society)  was  the 
more  admirable.     In  a  woman  I  would  always  have  the 


150  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

heart  to  be  the  chief  source  of  her  fascination.  The  one 
thing  I  did  not  quite  approve  of  was  the  juvenile  period 
at  which  they  bloomed  and  decayed.  A  lady  here  was 
in  the  habit  of  marrying  nearly  ten  years  earlier  than  a 
European,  so  that  at  twenty,  if  she  had  proved  a  fruitful 
olive,  her  husband's  table  was  surrounded  with  tall  shoots 
sufficient  to  supply  him  with  shade  for  the  remainder  of 
his  days.  At  thirty — the  glowing  summer  of  an  English 
dame — she  had  fallen  into  "the  sere  leaf;"  and  at  forty 
— the  autumn  fulness  of  a  royal  taste,  the  bel  age  of  St. 
James's — the  faces  of  these  matrons  of  the  West  are  cut 
up  into  as  many  lines  as  a  map  of  Europe.  Nevertheless, 
to  the  influence  of  their  society  I  chiefly  attribute  their 
husbands'  refinement,  and,  in  proof,  I  cannot,  perhaps, 
more  amuse  the  reader  than  by  showing  the  contrast  of  a 
planter's  life  some  twenty  years  previous,  when,  marriage 
being  made  a  mere  mode  of  conveying  property,  every 
woman  was  looked  on  as  an  animal,  and  every  house  was 
a  harem. 

During  summer  he  used  to  rise  about  nine,  when  he 
exerted  himself  to  walk  as  far  as  his  stables  to  look  at 
the  stud  which  he  kept  for  the  races ;  at  ten  he  break 
fasted  on  coifee,  eggs,  and  hoe-cake,  concluding  it  with 
the  commencement  of  his  diurnal  potations — a  stiff  glass 
of  mint-sling  —  a  taking  disorder  peculiar  to  the  South. 
He  then  sought  the  coolest  room  and  stretched  himself  on 
a  pallet  in  his  shirt  and  trousers,  with  a  negress  at  his 
head  and  another  at  his  feet  to  keep  off  the  flies  and  pro 
mote  reflection.  Between  twelve  and  one  his  throat  would 
require  another  emulsion,  and  he  would  sip  half  a  pint  of 
some  mystery  termed  bumbo,  apple-toddy,  or  pumpkin 
flip.  He  then  mounted  a  pony,  and,  with  an  umbrella 
over  his  head,  rode  gently  round  his  estate  to  converse 
with  his  overseers.  At  three  he  dined,  and  drank  ever}*- 
thing  —  brandy,  claret,  cider,  Madeira,  punch,  and  san- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  151 

garee,  then  resumed  his  pallet,  with  his  negresses,  and 
meditated  until  tea-time — though  he  was  not  particular 
about  tea,  unless  friends  with  womenkind  dropped  in. 
The  inflammation  in  his  throat  returned  about  dusk, 
and  he  prescribed  for  himself  cooling  washes  until  bed 
time.  From  this  detail  the  reader  will  surmise  that  a 
planter  was  a  reptile  only  to  be  preserved  in  spirits;  but 
I  must  guard  against  the  error  that  he  was  by  choice  a 
solitary  toper.  On  the  contrary,  he  strained  every  nerve 
to  pick  up  companions,  and  it  was  only  when  in  utter 
despair  of  obtaining  this  pleasure  that  he  gave  himself 
up  to  bumbo,  Dinah,  a  mattress,  and  meditation.  Many 
humorous  instances  were  related  to  me  of  the  plans  he 
adopted  to  draw  guests  to  his  convivial  roof  in  the  un- 
tracked  woods  of  the  interior.  One  of  the  most  striking 
was  the  following  : 

On  the  morning  of  "  a  clear  day  " — a  decided  scorcher 
— he  would  order  a  wagon  to  be  packed  with  a  tub  con 
taining  bottles  of  every  compound  in  his  closets — sling, 
nog,  flip,  and  toddy,  together  with  their  elements,  spir 
its,  lemons,  sugar,  etc. ;  a  pair  of  rifles,  shot,  and  powder; 
a  fishing-rod  and  tackle;  soap,  towels,  clean  linen  and  nan 
keens  ;  and  a  canvas  awning  with  poles  and  cords  to  sup 
port  it.  He  then  took  his  seat  in  the  vehicle,  and,  attended 
by  a  train  of  blacks,  was  driven  slowly  to  the  nearest 
highway,  along  which  he  proceeded  till  he  came  to  a  clear, 
clay-bottomed  pond.  The  wagon  was  then  backed  into 
the  water  where  the  depth  was  breast-high,  the  poles  were 
firmly  driven  into  the  bottom,  the  awning  stretched  over 
them,  and  the  horses  being  turned  into  the  woods,  the  pro 
prietor  disarrayed  himself  and  descended  into  this  local 
bath.  After  amusing  himself  with  a  few  minutes'  splash 
ing,  a  board  was  slid  down  from  the  wagon  to  support 
him  in  a  recumbent  position,  and  the  tub,  like  a  richly- 
freighted  West-Indiaman,  was  committed  to  the  deep  and 


152  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

moored  beside  him.  Arrangements  were  now  made  for 
the  business  of  the  day:  while  one  ebony  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  cattle,  another  carried  out  a  line  from  his 
floating  fishing-rod,  standing  ready  to  give  him  notice  of 
a  bite;  a  third  placed  his  rifles  on  the  tub,  that  he  might 
pop  at  the  first  bird  that  offered;  and  two  others  were 
despatched  in  opposite  directions  to  watch  if  travellers 
were  approaching.  Thus  combining  the  four  staple  enjoy 
ments  of  bathing,  drinking,  shooting,  and  fishing,  this 
'Western  Sardanapalus  marked  the  furnace  in  the  skies 
burn  away,  but  not  with  a  contented  heart.  He  sighed 
for  a  victim  ;  his  toils  were  spread  and  he  hungered  for 
his  prey.  In  the  deep  solitude  that  reigned  around,  his 
ear  was  triply  alive  to  human  sounds;  the  creak  of_a  cart 
wheel  hadjnore  music  for  him  than  the  finest  notes  of  a 
thrush,  and  the  sight  of  any  person,  not  a  negro,  more 
beauty  than  the  loveliest  landscape.  If  at  length  the  form 
of  a  stranger  appeared,  he  sprang  from  his  plank  and 
r  shouted  5an  invitation  to  alight  and  take  a  drop  of  some 
thing  sociable.  If  the  traveller  refused,  up  went  the  rifle 
to  his  shoulder,  and  compliance  was  demanded  in  the  tone 
of  a  European  footpad.  The  stranger  now  saw  that  pleas 
ure  was  policy,  however  urgent  might  be  his  business; 
but  if  he  were  so  unguarded  as  to  yield  to  his  next  request 
to  "strip  and  take  a  swim,"  he  speedily  found  himself 
irretrievably  in  the  clutches  of  this  human  alligator.  The 
planter  fixed  in  him  all  the  claws  of  nog,  flip,  sling,  and 
toddy,  until  the  brain  of  the  victim  became  so  confused 
that  the  grinning  negroes  had  no  difficulty  in  stowing  him 
iato  the  wagon,  whereupon  the  poles  were  struck,  the 
horses  buckled  in,  and  the  delighted  planter  returned 
home  with  his  prize,  whom  he  probably  cooped  up  in  a 
back-room  with  a  chevaux-de-frise  of  bottles,  until,  by 
some  desperate  effort,  the  captive  made  his  escape. 
Another  and  more  civilized  plan  was  to  send  the  ne- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  153 

grocs  round  at  nightfall  to  the  nearest  inns  (here  very 
properly  termed  "ordinaries"),  with  a  note  to  any  lady  or 
gentleman  who  might  be  putting  up  there,  stating  that  if 

they  did  not  like  their  accommodation,  Mr.  would 

be  happy  to  see  them  at  his  house  close  by,  to  which  a 
black  with  a  lantern  would  conduct  them.  This  system 
was  often  successful;  for,  in  the  old  times,  all  you  could 
obtain  at  these  places  were  eggs  and  bacon,  hoe-cake,  and 
peach  brandy;  a  bed  stuffed  with  shavings,  on  a  frame 
that  rocked  like  a  cradle,  and  in  a  room  so  well  ventilated 
that  a  traveller  had  some  difficulty  in  keeping  his  umbrella 
erect,  if  endeavoring,  under  this  convenience,  to  find  shel 
ter  from  the  rain  while  in  bed.  But  as  the  planter's  hos 
pitality  proved  such  an  antagonist  to  the  landlord's  inter 
ests,  the  latter  always  had  it  made  up  to  him  in  presents, 
so  that  all  parties  were  wTell  content;  and,  probably,  the 
only  sufferer  in  the  end  was  the  cerebellum  of  the  guest. 
Whether  the  decline  of  such  a  spirit  may  be  deplored  or 
not,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  As  emigrants  began  to 
pour  into  the  woods  a  planter  had  seldom  occasion  to  lift 
his  rifle  to  his  shoulder  in  demanding  their  society,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  he  probably  soon  obtained  those  who  re 
quired  some  such  gesticulation  to  be  got  rid  of. 

I  was  much  amused  by  a  story  I  once  heard  of  a  propri 
etor  sending  to  an  inn  one  evening,  when  he  was  in  un 
usually  good  spirits,  to  desire  the  company  of  any  stray 
gentleman  who  would  so  far  favor  him ;  and  his  sable 
Mercury  returning  with  a  New-England  preacher  who  was 
journeying  on  a  crusade  against  slavery,  and  who  imme 
diately  commenced  tracing  a  comparison  between  the 
planter  and  Beelzebub,  which  lasted  until  daylight. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing,  racing  was  still  the 
ruling  diversion.  To  the  credit  of  their  taste  and  feeling, 
that  vulgar  brutality,  cockfighting,  had  long  fallen  into 
neglect.  While  of  sling,  under  proper  circumstances, 


154  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

namely,  a  certain  time  of  life  and  time  of  night,  I  must 
declare  my  unqualified  approbation,  with  their  racing, 
also,  I  was  highly  pleased.  I  attended  their  principal 
course  at  Williamsburg,  and  better  order  and  arrange 
ment  I  had  never  seen  at  Newmarket.  Horses  of  all  ages 
ran  for  subscription  purses,  two  out  of  three  four-mile 
heats  won  £100  the  first  day,  and  £50  every  other,  the 
races  generally  lasting  a  week.  The  riders  were  chiefly 
their  owners ;  and  I  was  informed  that  their  knowledge 
of  the  science  of  jockeyship  was  quite  as  profound  as  that 
of  the  English  nobility.  This  is  no  small  praise.  To  the 
eye  of  an  ignoramus  like  myself  everything  seemed  per 
fectly  fair,  nor  was  my  esteem  for  my  acquaintances  les 
sened  by  the  position  I  saw  them  in,  since,  when  the  ride 
was  over,  they  did  not  bring  the  stable  into  their  houses. 
My  attention  was  most  attracted  by  their  horses :  such  a 
variety  of  heights  and  shapes  would  have  made  an  English 
turf -hunter  stare.  Imagine,  beside  the  sleek,  proud,  well- 
trained,  elegant-limbed  English  racer,  just  imported,  and 
pawing  the  ground  with  the  conscious  dignity  of  an  aris 
tocrat,  a  low,  long-backed,  shaggy  plebeian,  undressed  and 
dirty,  his  legs  pillars,  and  his  monstrous  head  set  upon  a 
short,  straight  neck,  poking  the  earth  as  if  ashamed  of  his 
presumption  in  venturing  into  such  noble  company.  Judg 
ing  with  a  common  eye, I  gave  the  republican  no  chance; 
indeed,  I  ventured  upon  a  small  bet  that  this  four-legged 
Caliban,  this  outrage  on  all  the  rules  of  English  stable 
lore,  would  imagine  that  he  had  a  cart  at  his  tail,  and  not 
achieve  the  winning-post  before  sundown.  What,  then, 
was  my  surprise  when,  on  the  signal  for  starting,  away 
this  fellow  went,  all  fire  and  spirits,  not  galloping  or 
springing  secundem  artem,  but  scouring  the  earth  like  a 
demon  of  pestilence,  his  nose  erect  as  if  he  snuffed  a  dis 
tant  feed  of  corn,  and  his  mane  and  tail  floating  like  a 
pirate's  pennons.  His  rider,  a  tall  man  in  red  sleeves, 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  155 

whose  only  solicitude  was  to  keep  his  scat,  gave  me  an 
idea  of  ^Eolus,  the  god  of  storms,  hurrying  over  the  ocean 
to  engulf  a  fleet.  I  need  scarcely  say  that,  to  the  shame 
of  all  science  and  propriety,  this  animal  came  in  first,  and 
without  whip  or  spur.  But  he  crowned  his  triumph  with 
a  real  trait  of  magnanimity.  When  the  noble  Briton 
arched  his  neck  with  his  usual  air  of  high-breeding,  the 
victor,  heedless  of  the  shouts  about  him,  poked  his  nose 
again  into  the  ground,  as  if  only  anxious  to  show  that 
humility  which  ever  "narks  the  true  hero. 

More  fun,  however,  prevailed  at  another  species  of  this 
diversion,  peculiar  to  the  interior,  called  "quarter-racing," 
which  was  a  match  between  a  pair  of  horses  to  run  a  quar 
ter  of  a  mile  in  a  straight  direction.  This  feat  usually 
took  place  near  some  tavern,  in  a  field  where  a  path  was 
hedged  in,  about  ten  feet  wide,  for  the  competitors,  the 
sides  of  which  were  generally  lined  by  a  motley  multitude 
of  negroes,  Dutchmen,  Yankee  pedlers,  and  backwoods 
men,  among  whom,  with  long  whips  in  their  hands  to 
clear  the  ground,  moved  the  proprietors  and  betters,  riding 
or  leading  their  horses.  The  cattle  for  this  contest  were 
a  peculiar  breed,  somewhat  larger  than  ponies,  shaggy  as 
bears,  but  frisky  as  lambs.  When  the  start  was  given 
they  went  off  at  full  speed,  so  that  the  affair  was  over  be 
fore  you  imagined  it  begun.  The  event  was  always  pro 
claimed  by  a  tornado  of  applause  from  the  winner's  party, 
the  niggers  in  particular  hallooing,  jumping,  and  clapping 
their  hands  in  a  frenzy  of  delight,  more  especially  if  the 
horses  had  happened  to  jostle  and  one  of  the  riders  been 
thrown  off  with  a  broken  leg;  whereupon  the  defeated 
owner,  or  some  friend  for  him,  always  dealt  out  retri 
bution  with  his  whip,  for  the  purpose,  as  he  termed  it,  of 
maintaining  order.  Sometimes  twenty  of  these  whip  syl 
labubs  would  take  place  in  a  day,  and  then  the  diversions 
would  be  wround  up  by  trials  at  rifle-shooting,  cock-fight- 


156  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

ing,  and  boxing ;  so  that,  what  with  the  wrangling  of  the 
owners,  the  slang  of  the  grooms,  the  fun  of  the  niggers, 
and  the  diversities  of  other  characters  upon  the  ground — 
the  muscular  backwoodsman  contrasting  in  frame  and  spirit 
with  the  lanky  New-Yorker,  and  the  quiet  calculation  of 
both  with  the  epithetical  jabber  of  the  "  Connecticut  chaps" 
— a  scene  of  this  sort  was  one  of  the  most  animated  and 
primitive  I  had  the  fortune  to  stumble  on. 
_  The  last  and  least  frequent  mode  of  passing  time  that 
I  partook  of  in  Virginia  was  hunting.  It  is  a  curious 
thing  that,  with  few  or  none  of  the  domestic  tastes  of  the 
mother-country,  the  slave  states  alone  were  decidedly 
English  in  their  public  amusements.  Whether  the  impor 
tation  of  these  had  been  generally  beneficial  to  so  young 
a  country  is  another  question.  The  planters  had  wealth 
and  leisure,  two  incentives  to  enjoyment,  besides  a  greater 
than  either — a  warm  climate.  Climate,  in  fact,  makes  all 
the  difference.  It  is  an  easy  thing  to  be  a  stoic  in  a  cold 
one,  the  absence  of  temptation  always  leading  a  man  to 
Hatter  himself  into  a  belief  of  his  superior  goodness. 
However,  hunting,  unattended  by  the  Bacchanalian  cli 
maxes  of  Lincolnshire,  could  not  come  under  the  ban  of 
even  the  "Blue  Laws."  It  was  a  healthy  recreation  and 
served  to  increase  a  man's  knowledge  of  topography — per 
haps  of  geology  also — for  how  many  specimens  of  earth 
does  a  thorough  Nimrod  of  any  country  bring  home  on 
his  garments  if,  with  the  true  martyr-like  perseverance  of 
his  tribe,  he  turns  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left  in 
pursuit  of  his  object. 

But  hunting  in  Virginia,  like  every  other  social  exotic, 
was  a  far  different  thing  from  its  English  original.  The 
meaning  of  the  latter  is  simple  and  explicit.  A  party  of 
horsemen  meet  at  an  appointed  spot  and  hour,  to  turn  up 
or  turn  out  a  deer  or  a  fox,  and  pursue  him  to  a  standstill. 
Here  a  local  peculiarity — the  abundance  of  game — upsets 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  157 

all  system.  The  practice  seemed  to  be  for  the  company 
to  enter  the  wood,  beat  up  the  quarters  of  anything,  from 
a  stag  to  a  snake,  and  take  their  chance  for  a  chase.  If 
the  game  went  off  well,  and  it  was  possible  to  follow  it 
through  the  thickets  and  morasses,  ten  to  one  that  at 
every  hundred  yards  up  sprung  so  many  rivals  that  horses 
and  hunters  were  puzzled  which  to  select,  and  every  buck, 
if  he  chose,  could  have  a  deer  to  himself — an  arrangement 
that  I  was  told  proved  generally  satisfactory,  since  it 
enabled  the  worst  rider,  when  all  was  over,  to  talk  about 
as  many  difficulties  surmounted  as  the  best. 

A  friend  of  mine  near  Richmond>  who  had  a  pack  of 
hounds,  invited  me  to  go  out  with  him  at  the  next  meet 
ing,  proffering  the  use  of  a  thorough-bred  quadruped.  I 
accepted  the  kindness,  but  more  with  a  view  of  discover 
ing  what  the  sport  consisted  of  than  from  any  abstract 
love  of  it.  My  chase  through  life  had  been  of  a  different 
species,  and  I  take  the  liberty  of  relating  this  deviation 
after  other  game  merely  because  it  gave  rise  to  an  adven 
ture  and  a  train  of  reflection.  One  cool  and  cloudy  morning 
I  trotted  with  my  friend  to  the  scene  of  action,  where  I  met 
a  host  of  acquaintances,  all  of  whom  entertained  the  idea 
that  I  was  a  superior  rider,  which  really  means  a  man  who 
believes  his  skull  to  be  so  thick  that  there  can  be  no  dan 
ger  of  cracking  it.  Our  salutations  were  soon  over,  and 
we  proceeded  to  hostilities  by  skulking  into  a  dark  wood, 
while  I  perceived  that  every  eye  was  fixed  upon  me  in 
evident  expectation  of  something  extraordinary.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  hounds  opened,  a  young  red-deer  went  off, 
and,  from  the  spirit  of  my  horse  and  the  thick  array  of 
branches,  I  was  in  some  danger  of  following  his  example. 
Luckily,  however,  the  game  took  to  a  field,  and  there,  with 
the  inspiration  of  the  general  yelling,  I  certainly  did  mas 
ter  two  or  three  hedges  and  ditches  in  a  style  that  sur 
prised  myself,  and  riveted  my  friends  in  their  delusion. 


158  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

In  a  short  time  I  got  separated  from  the  rest,  and  found 
myself  again  in  that  Tartarean  wood  where,  every  stump 
threatening  a  case  for  a  surgeon,  a  calculating  trot  was 
the  utmost  I  could  accomplish.  Before  long  I  heard  a 
rustling  in  the  bushes  before  me,  and  then  saw  an  animal, 
which  I  took  for  our  fugitive,  spring  away  to  escape;  but, 
in  defiance  of  all  obstacles,  I  pressed  him  so  close  that  he 
took  it  in  dudgeon,  and,  turning  round,  displayed  a  fine 
set  of  teeth  and  uttered  a  low  growl.  What  this  beast 
was,  according  to  Linnams,  I  have  never  been  able  to 
make  out.  My  survey  was  so  concentrated  on  the  con 
struction  of  his  jaws  that  I  neglected  to  note  his  other 
features.  But  I  think  the  most  fervid  natural  philosopher 
would  have  concurred  in  my  query — not,  Is  this  beast  a 
wolf  or  a  panther? — but,  Has  he  dined?  It  was  evident 
I  had  mistaken  the  individual,  and,  as  he  seemed  to  con 
sider  an  apology  was  due  to  him,  I  felt  that  the  best 
would  be  to  desist  from  further  intrusion.  Accordingly 
I  turned  round,  and  in  a  few  springs  gained  once  more  the 
open.  All  sound  of  the  chase  had  now  died  away,  and 
I  found  myself  alone  in  a  strange  country  without  the 
slightest  means  of  obtaining  a  clew  to  the  track  of  my  com 
panions.  In  this  dilemma  I  threw  the  reins  on  my  steed's 
neck  (agreeably  to  the  rule  of  those  oft-bewildered  gen 
tlemen,  the  knights-errant),  and,  at  an  easy  canter,  he  car 
ried  me  some  miles  across  country  without  my  perceiving 
road,  house,  or  human  being.  At  length,  beginning  to  sus 
pect  his  judgment,  I  reined  up,  when  the  cry  of  the  hounds 
came  suddenly  upon  us  in  the  direction  we  were  going. 
My  Bucephalus  needed  neither  voice  nor  spur  to  renew 
his  best  pace — bogs  and  brakes  glided  past  me  with  fear 
ful  rapidity — and,  lo !  at  a  bound  he  brought  me  into  an 
area  where  the  deer  had  been  run  to  bay  on  the  edge  of  a 
deep  stream,  in  which  all  the  horses  were  splashing  and 
snorting.  I  was  actually  the  first  in  at  the  death!  The 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  159 

compliments  and  congratulations  which  I  now  received  on 
all  sides  for  my  extraordinary  riding  would  take  pages  to 
enumerate.  I  must  have  crossed  rocks  and  swamps  which 
they  had  been  compelled  to  skirt ;  in  fact,  I  had  done  more 
than  any  hunter  in  Virginia  had  ever  achieved  before  me. 
As  I  was  not  in  a  humor  to  quarrel  with  this  reputation, 
I  affected  to  refer  all  the  merit  to  my  horse;  but,  as  we 
jogged  home  to  dinner,  I  could  not  help  settling  into  the 
conviction,  how  much  more,  after  all,  a  man's  fame  in 
this  world  depends  upon  accident  than  on  ability! 

As  I  was  always  interested  in  local  traditions,  one  of  my 
friends  related  to  me  some  concerning  Captain  Smith,  the 
first  explorer  of  Virginia,  and  his  well-known  enamoured 
wild  girl — the  pure,  though  passionate,  Pocahontas.  Of 
all  the  early  adventurers  Smith  seems  to  have  possessed 
the  greatest  amount  of  estimable  qualities.  With  consid 
erable  skill  as  a  navigator  he  combined  a  spirit  of  enter 
prise  which  aimed  at  honorable  ends.  Wild  as  had  been 
his  career  as  a  soldier  of  fortune  in  nearly  all  parts  of  Eu 
rope,  principles  of  rectitude  and  benevolence  are  seen  in 
his  subsequent  life,  not  less  in  the  publication  of  his  dis 
coveries  than  in  his  conduct  in  the  government  of  the  col 
ony.  One  thing  is  very  obvious — his  ruling  object  was 
not  his  own  aggrandizement;  and  this  is  no  small  praise 
when  we  consider  the  veil  which  romance  has  often  thrown 
over  the  nakedness  of  robbery ;  the  proverbial  ease  with 
which  success  becomes  a  cosmetic  for  the  hideousness  of 
crime.  Some  evidence  of  his  character  may  be  gleaned 
from  the  moral  discipline  which  he  established  in  Virginia, 
apparently  so  much  at  variance  with  the  habits  of  his 
early  life.  Leading  a  party  into  the  woods  on  one  occa 
sion  to  fell  timber,  a  broken-down  prodigal  who  had  been 
exported  by  his  family  as  a  last  resource  had  handled  the 
axe  but  a  few  minutes  when  his  fingers  began  to  blister, 
whereupon  he  vented  his  indignation  in  a  series  of  em- 


160  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

phatic  oaths.  Smith  remonstrated  with  him  on  the  im 
propriety  of  his  language,  but  finding  that  he  persisted, 
ordered  his  exclamations  to  be  numbered,  and  when  they 
returned  home  compelled  the  delinquent  to  have  a  can  of 
water  poured  down  his  sleeve  for  every  offence.  This 
mode  of  punishment  proved  a  speedy  purifier  of  the  lan 
guage  of  his  followers. 

There  was  much  magnanimity  in  his  reply  to  some  old 
son  of  Plutus  who  once  proposed  to  set  him  up  with  a 
ship  and  stores  if  he  would  make  a  descent  upon  the 
South  American  coasts,  where  riches  were  speedily  amassed 
by  buccaneering.  "  I  have  been  told,"  he  replied,  "  that 
riches  make  life  pass  swiftly  and  pleasantly,  and  that  'tis 
the  poor  man  only  who  grows  really  old;  but  it  doth  seem 
to  me  that  could  I  consent  to  rob  men  that  never  wronged 
me,  the  peaceful  and  well-doing,  perchance  the  widow 
and  the  orphan,  my  days  would  of  a  sudden  grow  to  such 
intolerable  length  I  should  pray  God  to  shorten  them." 

He  gave,  too,  a  pleasing  proof  of  ingenuity  when  Pow- 
hattan,  the  royal  father  of  Pocahontas,  inquired  the  cause 
of  their  difference  of  color,  and  the  white-man's  motives 
in  crossing  the  "Great  Salt  Lake."  "In  the  beginning," 
said  lie,  "  Manito  placed  one  family  on  earth,  a  father  and 
four  sons,  and  they  were  white.  To  one  son  he  gave  the 
East,  to  another  the  South,  and  to  another  the  West.  He 
had  another  portion  for  the  youngest  son,  but  he  was  wil 
ful,  left  his  home,  and  wandered  by  a  northern  path  into 
the  woods  of  the  land  beyond  the  great  salt  lake,  at  which 
Manito  was  wroth,  and  the  shade  of  his  displeasure  fell 
upon  the  red-man's  face.  But  the  children  of  the  East 
continued  to  live  in  his  presence  and  enjoy  his  smile,  which 
kept  their  faces  white,  until  at  last  Manito  bid  them  go 
over  the  great  lake  and  embrace  their  red  brother,  and  so 
bring  him  back  to  his  obedience." 

Of  Pocahontas,  the  Indian  girl,  the  fair,  fond,  and  faith- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  161 

f  ul,  what  can  we  say  but  that  she  is  one  whom  history  and 
tradition  alike  delight  to  honor,  as  an  instance  of  Nature 
perfecting  a  work  beyond  the  power  of  Art  to  improve. 
Her  heart  was  stored  with  so  much  confidence  in  others' 
goodness  that  it  was  itself  kept  pure,  and  had  an  oracle  of 
conduct  given  it  in  every  impulse.  In  addition  to  this,  when 
we  know  that  she  was  the  child  of  a  clime  where  woman 
hood  follows  at  once  on  infancy,  and  where  imagination, 
like  an  uncaged  bird,  was  ever  on  the  wing,  we  cannot 
wonder  at  the  fervor  of  her  passion  for  the  gallant  navi 
gator,  whose  person  and  pursuits  appealed  so  powerfully 
to  her  superstition  as  well  as  to  her  softer  feelings.  By 
her  intervention  the  whites  were  secured  from  molestation, 
and  their  alliance  cemented  by  her  subsequent  marriage 
with  Mr.  Rolfe,  a  worthy  person,  who  converted  her  to 
Christianity  and  brought  her  to  England.  Though  she 
did  not  herself  live  to  return  to  Virginia,  her  child  did  so, 
and  became  the  ancestor  of  my  informant 

Among  the  characteristic  traits  related  of  her,  none 
pleased  me  more  than  her  reply  to  a  lady  of  the  court, 
shortly  after  her  presentation,  who  asked  her,  "  What  is 
love?"  The  child  of  the  woods  paused  an  instant  and 
replied,  "It  is  life !"  Equally  happy  was  her  explanation 
of  a  storm  at  sea,  which  she  termed  "  Manito  walking  on 
the  water."  Her  visit  to  England  dazzled  much  more 
than  it  delighted  her,  for  Nature  had  given  her  so  pure  a 
taste  that  it  kept  her  senses  in  subjection.  After  she  had 
been  presented  to  Queen  Anne,  and  while  the  full  glitter 
of  royalty  had  just  passed  before  her  eyes,  she  was  found 
sitting  alone  and  in  tears.  Her  husband,  imagining  this 
could  result  but  from  one  cause,  said  to  her,  "You  are 
thinking  of  the  many  precious  stones  upon  our  queen's 
breast  ?"  She  shook  her  head.  "  Why,  then,  are  you  sad  ?" 
"Is  not  the  earth  sad?"  she  replied,  "it  is  now  three  days 
that  the  sun  has  hid  himself."  Not  all  the  brilliance  of 


162  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

the  English  court  could  compensate  her  for  cloudy  skies. 
Tomolomo,  her  brother-in-law,  who  accompanied  her  to 
England,  had  been  enjoined  by  Powhatan  to  take  note 
how  many  people  the  country  contained,  for  which  pur 
pose  he  took  a  short  stick,  and,  on  landing  at  Plymouth, 
began  to  cut  a  notch  for  every  fresh  face  he  met.  It 
may  be  supposed  that  this  mode  of  computation  did  not 
long  suffice.  It  was  night  when  he  landed  on  returning 
to  his  native  soil,  and  the  king,  bearing  in  mind  the  im 
portant  question,  instantly  put  it  to  him.  Tomolomo  re 
plied  by  a  significant  gesture.  He  pointed  to  the  stars. 

The  least  pleasing  retrospect  in  connection  with  this 
state  is  the  moral  stain  which  England  inflicted  upon  it  in 
making  it  a  receptacle  for  convicts.  Nothing  has  proved 
the  source  of  so  much  unfounded  obloquy,  for,  to  this 
day,  Englishmen  entertain  the  absurd  notion  that  those 
manacled  wretches,  on  obtaining  their  liberty,  by  some 
hocus-pocus  purchased  estates  and  became  the  fathers  of 
the  present  gentry.  The  drunken  jest  of  the  comedian 
Cooke,  when  he  asked  for  their  "  family  jewels,"  the 
"Birmingham  bracelets,"  was  but  the  expression  of  a  very 
general  conviction.  It  would  be  awkward,  certainly,  for 
most  countries  to  look  too  deeply  into  their  origin,  with  a 
view  to  prove  its  perfect  purity ;  but  England  could  not 
claim  to  be  an  exception,  since  her  blood,  which  has  for 
ages  been  a  pool  drained  from  all  Europe,  would  present 
to  the  analyzer  some  of  the  most  heterogeneous  elements. 

Dr.  Franklin  entertained  a  due  sense  of  the  insult  of 
fered  to  his  country  by  the  above  practice,  and  expressed 
it  with  his  usual  power  of  sarcasm,  when  he  sent  to  Sir 
Robert  Walpole  a  present  of  rattlesnakes,  to  be  put  in 
the  king's  gardens  at  Kew,  "in  return  for  the  curious 
venomous  reptiles  the  minister  had  been  pleased  to  pre 
sent  to  Virginia."  But  that  the  subject  is  repulsive  to 
dwell  upon,  I  might  insert  some  singular  particulars  re- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  163 

specting  these  honorable  exiles,  many  of  whom,  like  tigers 
at  play,  were  amusing  to  contemplate  though  dangerous 
to  approach.  One  especially,  of  the  name  of  Boroughs, 
stood  out  in  bold  relief.  This  fellow  possessed  very  su 
perior  mental  abilities.  His  reasonings  leading  him  to 
look  on  men  as,  in  fact,  but  a  race  of  plunderers  under 
various  names,  he  inferred  his  right  to  make  war  on  all 
parties — to  be,  in  fact,  a  social  Arab.  Such  a  philoso 
phy,  it  will  be  supposed,  was  accompanied  with  some 
humor ;  indeed,  it  is  a  melancholy  fact  that  vagabonds 
are  generally  the  greatest  humorists.  Shakespeare  thought 
so,  or  he  would  not  have  favored  us  with  such  an  illus 
trious  example  as  Sir  John  Falstaff.  It  is  related  of  Bor 
oughs  that,  conversing  one  day  with  the  chaplain  of  the 
fort,  he  observed,  "Your  task,  sir,  is  much  easier  than 
that  of  other  ministers."  "  Easier !"  exclaimed  the  clergy 
man  with  a  stare — "easier,  how?"  "Why,  you  tell  me 
that,  in  every  Christian,  conviction  must  precede  repent 
ance.  Now  we  are  convicted  to  your  hands,  you  have  only 
got  to  convert  us."  Another  instance  was  when,  for  some 
oifence,  he  was  sentenced  to  mount  the  "  wooden  horse," 
or  military  stocks.  The  chaplain,  who  had  entertained 
hopes  of  bringing  Boroughs  to  a  sense  of  his  transgres 
sions,  saw  him  with  mingled  sorrow  and  indignation,  and 
asked  what  he  was  doing.  "Doing,  sir?  I  am  taking 
your  advice."  "Mine  ?"  "  Yes  ;  I  am  running  the  Chris 
tian  race — l  steadfast  and  immovable.'  " 

In  perfect  harmony  with  the  presence  of  convicts  was 
the  mental  bondage  of  the  lower  orders,  which  would 
appear  to  have  been  in  the  first  instance  the  crime  of  the 
government.  The  radical  hostility  of  tyrants  to  the  cir 
culation  of  thought  was  never  more  strongly  illustrated 
than  in  the  reply  of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  to  certain  questions  respecting  the  colony,  pro 
pounded  by  England  in  1070.  "I  thank  God  there  are 


164  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

here  no  free  schools  nor  printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not 
have  them  these  hundred  years;  for  learning  has  brought 
disobedience  and  heresy  and  sects  into  the  world ;  and 
printing  has  divulged  them  and  libels  against  the  best 
governments.  God  keep  us  from  both  !" 

As  the  autumn  advanced  I  received  a  summons  from 
Wignell  to  prepare  for  a  visit  to  Baltimore  ;  but  meeting 
Cooper  at  Richmond,  I  proposed  to  him  to  fill  up  a  month's 
interim  by  a  lecturing  excursion  through  this  state  and 
the  western  part  of  Maryland,  which  he  consented  to,  as 
a  more  agreeable  mode  of  combining  profit  with  pleasure 
than  playing  in  small  theatres  with  the  thermometer  at 
eighty  degrees.  Cooper,*  whose  merits  as  an  actor  I  have 
noticed  elsewhere,  was  one  of  the  most  eccentric  and  yet 
engaging  of  my  professional  brethren.  I  have  already 
mentioned  the  large  measure  of  enjoyment  which  the  ease 
and  freedom  of  society  in  the  South,  combined  with  the 
prosperous  state  of  theatricals,  presented  to  an  actor. 
Talent,  and  the  manners  of  a  gentleman,  were  a  general 
introduction.  To  these  Cooper  added  the  influence  of 
native  connections,  the  graces  of  a  handsome  person,  and 
much  agreeable  information,  for  his  education  had  been 
well  attended  to  in  England.  It  would  be  hard  to  say 
whether  he  were  the  greatest  favorite  in  public  or  private, 

*  THOMAS  ABTHORPE  COOPER  was  the  first  great  American  tragedian.  Born 
in  1776  in  England,  he  was  educated  by  William  Godwin.  With  the  aid 
and  advice  of  Thomas  Holcroft,  the  author  of  the  "Road  to  Ruin,"  and  a 
close  friend  of  Godwin's,  Cooper  went  on  the  stage  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
beginning  at  Edinburgh  without  success.  He  afterwards  acted  in  London, 
and  in  December,  1796,  he  made  his  first  appearance  in  America.  For 
nearly  forty  years  he  was  the  foremost  figure  on  the  American  stage.  In 
1806  he  became  the  manager  of  the  Park  Theatre  in  New  York.  He  made 
his  last  appearance  in  New  York  in  1835,  and  afterwards  acted  in  the 
South.  His  daughter  married  a  son  of  President  Tyler,  who  gave  Cooper 
a  place  in  the  New  York  Custom-IIouse.  He  died  at  Bristol,  Penn.,  April 
21,  1849. 


THOMAS    ABTHORP   COOPER. 

From    the  Polyanthus,   Boston,   1806. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  165 

•with  the  men  or  the  women.  With  the  one  he  would  ride, 
drive,  shoot,  or  bet.  For  the  other  he  had  the  eye  of 
Caliph  Vathek — "instant  annihilation."  Such  an  empty 
ing  of  Cupid's  quiver  as  on  the  nights  of  his  performance 
I  suppose  had  never  previously  been  known  in  the  Union. 
But  all  this  felicity,  strengthening  in  him  a  spirit  of  ad 
venture  and  a  blindness  to  consequences,  was  continually 
throwing  him  into  dilemmas  out  of  which  nothing  but  ex 
traordinary  courage  could  rescue  him.  In  this  last  particu 
lar  I  have  never  met  with  a  man  who  surpassed  him.  Had 
he  entered  the  service  of  Mars  instead  of  Melpomene,  death 
or  eminence  must  have  been  speedily  the  result.  And  his 
was  no  Dutch  courage,  no  constitutional  apathy  or  blind 
ness  to  danger;  he  had  a  proud  and  sensitive  spirit,  and 
was  always  staring  the  fatal  sisters  full  in  the  face.  Two 
instances  of  this  occurred  during  the  excursion  in  ques 
tion.  We  were  delivering  our  entertainment  one  evening 
at  Georgetown,  when  Cooper,  not  being  prepared  with  a 
particular  recitation  for  which  he  had  been  announced, 
apologized  and  substituted  another.  A  loud  hiss,  how 
ever,  was  the  consequence  from  a  member  of  Congress 
named  Dawson.  Cooper,  maintaining  his  composure,  iden 
tified  the  individual,  and  when  his  duties  were  over  sent 
him  his  card,  demanding  an  apology  for  the  insult  or  sat 
isfaction.  Mr.  Dawson,  affecting  not  to  consider  him  his 
equal,  treated  the  matter  with  contempt ;  when  Cooper 
sent  a  friend  to  inform  him  that  unless  he  complied  with 
one  or  the  other  of  his  requisitions,  he  would  follow  him 
to  Washington  and  horsewhip  him  before  the  senate- 
house.  This  threat  had  its  effect;  the  member  apolo 
gized. 

But  a  more  striking  instance  occurred  at  Fredericks- 
town  on  a  somewhat  similar  occasion.  We  had,  as  usual, 
engaged  the  assembly-room  of  the  tavern,  and  a  short 
time  before  the  performance  commenced  had  observed 


166  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

a  great  crowd  of  the  mobility  collect  under  the  windows; 
but,  as  we  were  accustomed  to  this  sight  in  all  the  small 
towns,  it  did  not  surprise  us.  Cooper's  best  recitation  was 
"  Alexander's  Feast,"  which  he  gave  with  a  force  and  va 
riety  that  I  have  never  heard  equalled.  Now  it  so  hap 
pened  thatj  in  the  most  energetic  passage,  where  Timo- 
theus  wishes  to  give  Alexander  a  fillip — 

"  Now  strike  the  lyre  again  ! 
A  louder,  yet  a  louder  strain  !"  etc. — 

a  crash  ensued  that  was  no  bad  illustration  of  the  desired 
"rattling  peal  of  thunder:"  a  brickbat,  large  enough  to 
have  felled  an  ox,  came  through  the  window,  flew  over 
the  heads  of  several  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  actually 
brushing  a  curl  on  my  colleague's  temple,  concluded  its 
career  by  scraping  an  acquaintance  with  my  shins.  The 
room  was  instantly  thrown  into  confusion  :  the  ladies 
shrieked;  the  gentlemen  emphasized;  I,  seizing  the  mis 
sile,  limped  down-stairs  to  call  an  officer,  and  Cooper — 
drank  a  glass  of  water.  Unluckily  the  only  keepers  of 
the  peace  in  this  town  seemed  to  be  the  Quakers,  and  as 
the  crowd  was  too  great  to  permit  a  discovery  of  the  de 
linquent,  I  had  to  return,  with  my  leg  and  my  feelings 
in  an  equal  state  of  irritation.  To  my  surprise  I  found 
order  restored  in  the  room  and  Cooper  continuing  his 
declamation.  When  he  concluded,  I  had  to  step  forward 
with  some  comic  interlude,  for  which  I  felt  little  inclined, 
when  he,  throwing  on  a  cloak,  descended  to  the  bar  and 
asked  the  landlord  for  the  loan  of  a  small  cudgel.  Se 
creting  this,  he  stepped  into  the  crowd  and  inquired  of 
the  nearest  person,  "  Who  was  the  man  that  threw  the 
brickbat?"  "  Why  should  I  tell  'ec  ?"  was  the  reply. 
"  Because,"  said  Cooper,  "  you'd  get  five  dollars  for  your 
trouble."  "Five  dollars!  That  be  the  man — he  in  the 
knot  of  longish  chaps  there."  Cooper  was  thus  directed 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  167 

to  a  group  of  about  a  dozen  backwoodsmen  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  crowd,  chuckling  over  the  feat  of  their  com 
panion,  and  who  presented  in  their  tall,  muscular  frames 
no  contemptible  phalanx  for  a  civil  disturbance.    Towards 
these  he  made  his  way  with  a  firm  step  and  repeated  his 
demand.     He  was  gratified  by  the  object  stepping  out  (in 
look  and  length  a  competent  leader  of  the  band),  and, 
surmising  his  business,  asking  with  a  husky  laugh,  "Well, 
squire,  what  if  I  be  he  ?"    "  That's  sufficient,"  said  Cooper, 
grasping  him  by  the  throat  with  the  sudden  strength  of  a 
tiger,  and  bringing  down  his  cudgel  like  a  stroke  of  light 
ning  on  his  head  and  shoulders.      The  impetuosity  and 
vigor  of  the  attack  deprived  the  animal,  although  much 
superior  in  brute  strength,  of  all  power  of  resistance,  and 
under  a  shower  of  blows  that  would  have  indented  a  wall, 
he  sank  upon  his  knees  and  begged  for  mercy,  his  para 
lyzed  companions  offering  not  the  slightest  interposition. 
The  fact  was  that,  as  regards  feelings,  Cooper  was  be 
laboring  the  whole  group.    When  his  stick  at  length  flew 
into  splinters,  he  consigned  the  ruffian  to  a  warm  friend 
below,  and — the  crowd  making  ready  way  for  him — re 
turned  to  the  inn.     A  few  minutes  after  my  effusion  con 
cluded,  and  he  was  at  his  post  with  his  usual  serene  and 
dignified  air.    Every  spark  of  external  evidence  quenched 
which  would  have  given  a  hint  of  what  had  passed,  he 
proceeded  to  deliver  Shakespeare's  "  Soliloquy  on  Death  " 
with  all  the  calm  abstractedness  required,  as  successfully 
as  he  had  embodied  Dryden's  energy  after  the  brickbat, 
when,  according  to  a  gentleman  who  sat  near  him,  a  gulp 
of  water  seemed  to  have  washed  down  all  his  indignation. 
The  whole  circumstances,  and  especially  this  power  of 
subduing  all  appearance  of  emotion,  implied,  to  my  mind, 
the  possession  of  the  highest  order  of  courage — the  cool 
calculation  of  danger,  and  its  proud  defiance. 

For  our  excursion  my  friend  proposed  to  join  me  in  a 


168  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

tandem,  but  I,  wishing  to  give  my  wife  and  child  an  air 
ing,  decided  on  a  phaeton.  He  would  not,  however,  give 
up  his  whim,  so  dragged  from  the  recesses  of  a  coach- 
maker's  yard  a  tall,  rickety  affair,  like  an  old-fashioned 
coach-box,  which  a  dozen  miles  of  Virginian  roads  threat 
ened  to  annihilate.  It  reminded  me  of  a  palsied  octoge 
narian  plunging  again  into  the  world,  to  essay  once  more 
the  struggles  that  had  already  shattered  him.  Travelling 
—  at  this  period  was  pretty  much  the  same  throughout  the 
Union.  "With  the  exception  of  the  roads  between  the 
principal  cities,  or  immediately  adjacent,  any  thorough 
fare  might,  without  a  pun,  have  been  termed  thorough- 
foul.  This  was  owing  to  so  much  of  the  communication 
being  carried  on  by  water.  It  would  be  difficult  to  give 
an  accurate  description  of  a  road  in  the  Slave  States  after 
a  slight  rain — to  portray  the  lakes  which,  under  the  title 
of  "  gullies,"  slumbering  complacently  in  the  midst,  com 
pelled  you  to  perform  a  picturesque  tour  round  their  edge;, 
or  the  shiny  eminences  termed  hills,  whose  level  it  seemed 
a  presumption  to  aspire  to.  The  track  of  the  wheels  was 
certainly  well-defined,  in  two  broad  paths  full  of  water; 
and  where  a  hollow  occurred,  some  careful  hand  had  usu 
ally  filled  it  up  with  a  substantial  pile  of  stones,  like  an 
Indian  tumulus.  This  rendered  the  navigation  of  these 
roads  no  small  science,  since  it  was  evident  if  you  escaped 
the  breakers  on  one  side  you  were  pretty  sure  of  founder 
ing  in  a  gulf  on  the  other.  One  virtue  they  certainly  had 
— consistency.  I  never  found  them  deviate  but  in  one 
particular,  when  the  path  lay  through  a  swamp,  when  it 
was  constructed  with  the  trunks  of  trees  laid  transversely 
together,  over  which  the  wheels  passed  with  a  distinct 
jolt.  A  mile's  ride  was  about  the  most  powerful  experi 
ment  on  one's  anatomy  a  man  could  desire. 

But  had  the  roads  been  as  smooth  as  a  bowling-green, 
the  absence  of   human  nature  and  the  deep,  unbroken 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  169 

gloom  of  the  solitude  threw  a  weight  upon  my  spirits 
which  often  made  me  wish  for  the  highways  of  England. 
To  a  traveller  on  his  first  visit  "the  majesty  of  the  eter 
nal  woods "  may  appeal  with  poetic  effect ;  also  to  an 
ornithologist  or  a  professional  sketcher.  But  it  strikes 
me  that  all  socially  disposed  persons  like  myself  must 
heartily  wrish  Nature,  in  her  nakedness,  to  be  confined  to 
romances,  and  to  witness  instead  her  well-clothed  beauty 
in  the  robes  of  harvest,  with  comfortable  cottages  dim 
pling  her  meadows,  and  a  cheering,  quick  succession  of  vil 
lages  upon  her  roads,  clustering  round  a  smooth  green, 
under  the  wing  of  some  paternal  manor-house  or  church. 

One  of  the  local  peculiarities  of  Virginia  was  an  im 
proved  breed  of  mosquitoes,  termed  gallinippers,  in  size 
and  sting  not  much  inferior  to  wasps.  The  origin  of  their 
name  I  could  never  precisely  discover.  This  class  of  na 
tives  were,  in  general,  most  sedulous  in  their  attentions  to 
foreigners,  but  the  gallinippers,  perhaps  with  a  more  re 
fined  taste,  specially  preferred  Frenchmen  ;  and  while  the 
common  mosquito  appeared  capable  of  adapting  himself 
to  every  local  variation  of  the  country,  being  found  on 
clayey  or  marshy  soils,  rocks  or  rivers,  this  species,  with 
more  of  the  air  of  an  hereditary  peerage,  traced  their 
extraction  solely  to  swamps.  Round  the  brink  of  these 
strongholds  they  lay  in  wait  for  their  prey  like  the  old 
robber  knights;  and,  in  hot  weather,  their  thirst  was  not 
fastidious  as  to  the  color  of  the  skin.  Imagine  the  situa 
tion  of  a  luckless  wight  journeying  along  a  road  of  trans 
verse  trees,  where  expedition  would  be  annihilation,  seat 
ed,  perhaps,  on  the  bottom  of  a  wagon,  which  bobbed  him 
up  like  a  parched  pea — a  jolt  a  second — while  the  sun 
streamed  fire  upon  his  caput,  finding  himself  suddenly  in 
the  grasp  of  these  sanguinary  marauders,  each  of  whom, 
however  active  the  defence,  was  sure  to  sheathe  his  blade 
in  him  at  the  same  instant.  What  was  an  ancient  martyr- 


170  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

dorn  in  comparison  ?  What  would  not  Nero  have  given 
for  such  auxiliaries. 

I  once  heard  an  amusing  story  of  a  negro,  at  an  inn,  who 
being  blest  with  an  extra  thick  skin,  set  an  ordinary  mos 
quito  at  defiance.  A  traveller  who  had  suffered  consider 
able  punctuation,  hearing  of  this,  laid  a  wager  with  the 
fellow  that  he  would  not  lie  half  an  hour  on  the  edge  of 
a  swamp  close  by  without  moving  or  expressing  pain. 
Sambo  manfully  accepted  the  challenge,  and  stretched 
himself  at  full  length  on  his  face,  leaving  the  entire  region 
of  his  reverse  a  broad  sheet  of  darkness  exposed  to  the 
enemy,  a  party  of  planters  and  passengers  standing  in 
judgment  over  him.  In  a  few  minutes  a  thick  swarm  of 
settlers  alighted  on  him  and  commenced  experiments  in 
various  quarters,  but  apparently  with  no  effect,  for  neither 
in  head,  body,  or  limb  did  the  hero  wince.  Not  a  muscle 
quivered.  Their  number  soon  increased,  and  it  amounted 
to  a  moral  certainty  that  the  challengee  must  speedily  cry 
out,  unless  indeed  he  enjoyed  the  hide  of  a  hedgehog. 
But  the  half-hour  was  elapsing  and  there  he  continued  to 
lie,  as  still  and  stiff  as  a  column  of  black  marble.  At 
length  the  traveller,  who  was  now  beginning  to  get  the 
laugh  against  him,  felt  so  irritated  at  his  miscalculation 
that  he  took  a  cigar  from  his  mouth,  and,  instead  of  knock 
ing  off  its  ashes  on  his  boot,  pushed  its  lighted  end  against 
the  negro's  broadest  expanse.  In  an  instant,  as  by  an  elec 
tric  impulse,  the  latter  sprang  on  his  legs  and  shouted,  as 
he  rubbed  himself,  "Cursee,  massa,  dat  a  gallinipper." 

Virginia  was  also  famous  for  its  hams,  which,  next  to 
the  orthodox  Westphalia,  are  the  finest  I  have  ever  eaten. 
By  what  process  the  latter  attain  their  excellence  I  am 
ignorant,  but  here  the  pigs  were  always  turned  into  the 
woods,  and,  listen,  O  epicure  of  the  East  !  their  chief 
source  of  subsistence  was  the  snakes.  This  strange  taste 
seems  to  admit  of  but  one  explanation — the  destruction  of 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  171 

a  common  enemy,  by  which  they  contributed  to  the  public 
good  as  well  as  served  a  private  end,  and  which  was  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  times.  The  pig  proved  him 
self  a  patriot !  I  am  unwilling  to  underrate  his  motives  by 
supposing  that  there  was  anything  particularly  tempting  in 
the  flesh  of  his  victim,  for  the  predilection  was  never  heard 
of  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  The  fact  stands  by 
itself,  and  ought  to  rescue  the  swinish  character  from  its 
usual  degradation.  But  besides  being  a  philanthropist, 
the  pig  displayed  considerable  science  as  a  general  in  his 
mode  of  extirpation.  It  was  an  established  principle  never 
to  attack  a  snake  but  with  combined  forces,  which  usually 
consisted  of  a  party  of  three,  two  vigorous  youths  in  the 
capacity  of  chasseurs,  and  an  experienced  mano3iivrer  as 
the  main  body,  who  always  took  up  his  position  in  reserve. 
The  action  was  commenced  by  one  of  the  light  corps  being 
sent  forward  to  dislodge  the  enemy  from  his  trenches. 
The  snake,  instantly  rising,  rattled  a  reveille  with  his  tail, 
and  presented  arms  with  his  fang.  Drawing  himself  up 
to  spring  on  his  foe,  the  latter  watched  his  eye  and  grunt 
ed  defiance.  By  this  time  the  other  wing  had  made  the 
circuit  of  the  bush,  and,  falling  upon  the  snake  in  the  rear, 
began  to  nibble  his  tail.  Turning  indignantly  to  annihi 
late  this  assailant,  he  left  a  long  line  exposed  to  another, 
whose  sagacious  mind  had  safely  calculated  the  result. 
Down  came  the  main  body  at  a  swift  trot,  and,  with  deter 
mined  jaws,  seizing  the  reptile  in  the  middle,  crunched 
him  in  halves,  upon  which,  according  to  the  usage  of  com 
manders  in  all  ages,  he  retired  with  the  best  part  of  the 
plunder,  leaving  the  obnoxious  head  still  alive  to  be  qui 
eted  by  his  subordinates. 

Cooper's  tandem,  as  I  had  predicted,  was  speedily  shat 
tered  by  the  roads,  though  they  considerably  improved 
on  our  getting  into  Maryland.  After  patching  up. the 
valetudinarian  at  various  places,  it  came  down  with  an 


173  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

ominous  crash  on  our  way  to  Hagerstown,  and  we  were 
obliged  to  stop  two  hours  at  a  blacksmith's  till  fresh  power 
of  existence  was  supplied.  Here,  however,  the  delay  was 
relieved  by  a  curious  discovery  respecting  our  son  of  Vul 
can,  who,  WTC  found,  possessed  a  reputation  for  curing 
insanity  by  means  of  iron  rings  which  he  forged  and  fitted 
to  the  middle  finger  of  the  left  hand.  How  to  explain  the 
mystery  I  know  not,  unless  the  imagination  was  power 
fully  acted  upon  by  this  grim  Mulciber,  who  certainly  had 
a  riveting  voice  and  eye,  and  who  might  have  practised 
some  tricks  at  his  forge  which  appeared  like  alliance  with 
powers  of  darkness.  But  to  this  fact  I  can  vouch,  that  I 
knew  a  Mr.  Neith,  a  merchant  in  this  state,  who  became 
incapable  of  conducting  his  business,  and  that  I  met  him 
a  twelvemonth  after,  perfectly  restored,  with  an  iron  ring 
upon  his  finger,  which  he  seriously  acknowledged  to  have 
been  the  means  of  his  recovery.  Cooper,  whose  hatred 
of  charlatanism  sometimes  led  him  to  forget  his  manners, 
burst  into  a  laugh  when  he  heard  the  disclosure,  where 
upon  this  mender  of  men's  heads  and  horses'  feet  remarked 
with  a  significance  which  let  out  the  secret  of  his  system, 
"Aye,  aye,  sir,  you  may  laugh,  but  it's  a  strange  thing 
why  men  should  become  mad,  and  it  must  be  a  strange 
thing  to  make  them  well  again." 

Near  this  mysterious  farrier's  stood  a  Quakers'  chapel, 
and  Mulciber  gave  us  a  standing,  or  rather  circulating, 
story  of  General  Lee  and  this  peaceful  tenement  during 
the  war.  Lee,  either  from  liking  or  laziness,  distinguished 
himself  by  the  barbarous  peculiarity  of  a  bushy  head  of 
hair  and  enormous  whiskers  ;  his  face,  like  that  of  the 
country,  presenting  the  contrast  of  masses  of  shade  re 
lieved  by  deep  ridges  and  deep  hollows.  Galloping  in 
this  direction  one  Sunday  afternoon,  he  was  overtaken 
by  a  storm,  and  on  reaching  the  chapel  made  no  cere 
mony  in  running  his  horse  under  its  shed  (always,  in  the 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  173 

States,  attached  to  country  places  of  worship)  ;  and,  for 
better  protection,  himself  entering  the  building,  and  tak 
ing  his  seat  upon  the  first  bench  that  offered,  but  which 
was  sufficiently  conspicuous  to  draw  on  him  the  gaze  of 
the  whole  congregation.  Men  and  women  waiting  pa 
tiently  for  the  Spirit  were  now  moved  to  survey  the 
stranger,  so  striking  was  the  anomaly  of  his  face  and 
fashion  within  their  simple  walls.  Even  the  elder,  who 
had  the  moment  previous  risen  to  exhort,  found  his  in 
spiration  checked  by  the  presence  of  the  Philistine,  till 
at  length  all  the  objects  of  the  meeting  were  at  a  stand 
still.  The  elder  alluded  to  saw  the  necessity  of  a  decided 
step.  Quitting  his  seat  with  a  slow  and  thoughtful  pace, 
he  strode  up  to  the  general,  and  eying  his  hair  intently 
as  he  laid  his  hand  upon  his  shoulder,  exclaimed,  "Friend 
Esau,  thou  hast  no  business  here ;  thou  art  a  stumbling- 
block  to  the  meek  in  heart  and  simple  in  attire.  Verily 
thou  must  return  to  thy  woods,"  saying  which,  with  a 
giant's  grasp,  he  conducted  the  soldier  back  to  the  shed,, 
a  civility  for  which  Lee  thanked  him  by  a  string  of  epi 
thets  which,  if  written  down,  would  burn  a  hole  in  the 
paper. 

Mentioning  the  "  Friends,"  reminds  me  of  a  famous  ne 
gro  discovery.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  first 
Quaker  was  a  native  of  England,  one  George  Fox ;  but, 
according  to  the  profound  researches  of  Sambotius  Qua- 
mina,  the  honor  belongs  to  Mordecai,  the  uncle  of  Queen 
Esther,  for  "  he  would  not  take  his  hat  off  to  Haman  !" 

Our  excursion  proved  an  agreeable  one  both  as  to  mak 
ing  money  and  acquaintances,  until  my  companion's  pleas 
ure  was  spoiled  by  the  very  means  he  had  adopted  to 
secure  it — his  tandem — which  had  no  sooner  escaped  the 
perils  of  the  road  to  be  exhibited  with  due  effect  in  the 
streets  of  a  community  than  it  was  stopped  by  a  con 
stable,  and  he  was  fined  for  exceeding  the  pace  established 


174  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

by  law.  Such  a  proceeding  in  a  quarter  where  lie  had 
conceived  liberty  would  be  licensed  not  restrained,  wanted 
but  a  slight  addition  to  decide  his  preference  for  the  bet 
ter  state  of  things  in  cities.  This  was  soon  forthcoming. 
On  the  second  night  of  our  entertainment  at  Hagerstown 
we  were  opposed  by  an  exhibition  which  drew  at  a  draught 
every  spectator  engaged  to  us.  This  was  the  first  impor 
tation  of  a  Bartholomew  fair  novelty  I  had  met  with  in 
the  States,  and  did  not  yield  to  the  most  extraordinary 
in  my  recollection.  It  was  thus  announced  : 

"This  day  is  introduced  to  the  American  public  the 
far-famed  monster  of  Madagascar  called  the  One-horned 
Boukabekabus,  whose  age,  powers,  and  dimensions  have 
never  been  discovered,  and  must  remain  a  matter  of  con 
jecture  to  the  end  of  time.  He  will  eat,  or  drink  any 
given  quantity  of  wine,  read  or  write  like  any  ordinary 
gentleman,  etc.  On  Thursday,  after  performing  all  these 
feats,  he  will  exceed  himself,  etc.  After  astonishing  the 
crowned  heads  of  Europe  the  proprietor  pants  to  submit 
this  curiosity  to  the  judges  of  Hagerstown." 

I  prevailed  on  Cooper  to  accompany  me  to  see  a  phe 
nomenon  which  evidently  had  escaped  the  notice  of  Liri- 
noBus,  when  we  soon  discovered  that  the  extraordinary 
monster  consisted  of  an  ordinary  bull's  hide,  surmounted 
by  the  canvas  head  of  a  unicorn,  and  distended  by  wooden 
ribs,  containing  a  man  in  the  interior,  who  roared  through 
a  trumpet  and  flickered  a  pair  of  candles  in  the  glass  eyes 
to  give  them  a  mysterious  aspect.  We  also  found  that 
the  ingenious  and  modest  impostor  was  no  other  than  a 
runaway  tailor  from  our  wardrobe,  who  had  carried  with 
him  all  the  materials  for  his  exhibition. 

After  this  appeal  to  the  critical  acumen  of  Hagerstown 
(a  proper  refuge  for  outcasts),  we  felt  disinclined  to  con 
tinue  in  the  lists,  so  returned  to  Alexandria,  where,  until 
our  duties  called  us  aAvay,  we  spent  our  time  in  fishing- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  175 

excursions  to  the  Potomac,  frequently  dining  at  a  tavern 
on  its  banks.  Here  a  drinking-vessel  supposed  to  give  a 
particular  zest  to  punch  was  a  skull  tipped  with  silver, 
said  to  be  a  relic  of  the  celebrated  pirate  Teach,  or 
"  Blackbeard."  The  tradition  ran  as  follows  : 

One  evening  this  scourge  of  the  Southern  coast  moored 
his  craft  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  went  ashore  with 
his  crew  in  two  parties,  one  to  obtain  provisions,  the  other 
to  assist  in  secreting  their  treasures.  He  was  busy  at  this 
work  when  an  English  sloop-of-war,  which  had  quietly  fol 
lowed  him,  suddenly  dropped  anchor  in  a  position  to  pre 
vent  his  escape,  and  sent  a  well-manned  barge  to  capture 
his  ship.  Teach  and  his  companions  sprang  into  their 
boat,  and  by  violent  exertion  reached  their  ship  nearly  at 
the  same  moment.  But  the  opposing  force  was  too  supe 
rior  to  give  even  more  than  their  usual  desperation  any 
hope  of  success.  The  commander  of  the  boarders  was  a 
brave  Scotchman  who,  desiring  the  credit  of  subduing 
Teach  in  person,  waved  his  Andrew  Ferrara  and  chal 
lenged  him  to  combat.  The  rover  clinched  his  weapon 
in  defiance,  and  hostilities  were  suspended  fore-and-aft  to 
witness  the  result.  For  some  minutes  the  contest  was 
dubious,  but  the  coolness  of  the  Scot  enabled  him  to  plant 
a  severe  blow  upon  the  pirate's  shoulder  which  let  out  a 
stream  of  crimson.  "  Ha !"  exclaimed  the  latter,  still  firm 
upon  his  legs,  "  well  struck,  brother  seaman  !"  "  Weel," 
replied  the  Scot,  "gin  ye  like  it  ye  sail  hae  more  on't," 
and  with  the  next  stroke  severed  the  pirate's  black  head 
from  his  shoulders.  He  then  ordered  it  to  be  put  in  boil 
ing  water  and  thoroughly  cleansed,  when  he  took  it  on 
shore  and  made  it  a  present  to  the  progenitor  of  its  pres 
ent  possessor. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

1800-1. — Tour  to  the  Ohio;  Passage  of  the  Potomac;  the  Alleghany 
Hills ;  Three  Kinds  of  Settlers,  Squatters,  Utopians,  and  New  England 
Farmers. — Backwoodsmen ;  Shooting  Exploits. — Pittsburgh  Smoke. — 
Indian  Wooing-hut  and  Honeymoon. — The  Ohio. — The  Aborigines  of 
America  — Indian  Antiquities. — Welsh  in  America. — The  Island  of  Blen- 
nerhasset;  Art  and  Nature. — Philadelphia  Balls;  Travellers'  Tales. — 
American  Beefsteak  Club. — A  Coincidence. — The  Quaker  and  the  Irish 
man. — Desdemona's  Revival. — St.  George's  Society. — Tubbs  the  Trage 
dian  and  his  Adventure. — Poetry  and  Matter-of-fact ;  the  Last  Creditor. 
— A  French  Bankrupt. — American  Advertisements  and  Literal  Mis 
takes. — Black  Nurses  and  the  Yellow  Fever ;  a  Colored  Lady. — Fennel's 
Immortality. — My  Aversion  and  Adventure ;  a  Female  Falstaff. — Peel's 
Museum. — Historical  Anecdote. 

AT  the  close  of  another  pleasant  season  in  Philadelphia 
my  good  friends,  Messrs.  Clay  and  Arnott,  proposed,  for 
my  summer's  pastime,  a  tour  to  the  Ohio  as  far  as  the 
Island  of  Blennerhasset,  whose  romantic  loveliness  was  now 
an  all-absorbing  theme  both  with  natives  and  foreigners. 
Assured  that  this  excursion  would  repay  my  feelings  more 
than  any  I  had  yet  taken  in  the  Union,  I  had  no  hesitation 
in  complying.  We  accordingly  took  the  fine  weather  at 
its  flood,  and  on  the  backs  of  three  accredited  roadsters 
essayed  the  path  to  Pittsburgh  in  becoming  style,  making 
our  first  important  halt  at  the  advanced  guard  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  termed  the  "  Blue  Ridge,"  partly, 
perhaps,  from  the  effect  its  towering  aspect  produced  on 
the  faces  of  travellers.  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  "Notes  on 
Virginia,"  had  given  such  a  vivid  description  of  these  hills 
that  I  could  not  resist  the  temptation  during  the  previous 
summer  to  visit  the  "passage  of  the  Potomac,"  though 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  177 

then  residing  at  a  hundred  miles'  distance.  It  is  unques 
tionably  the  sublimest  scene  in  America,  after  the  Falls 
of  Niagara.  Let  the  reader  first  imagine  the  "  backbone 
of  the  States  " — as  these  hills  have  been  happily  termed — 
three  ridges  of  precipitous  elevations  stretching  many 
hundred  miles  from  north  to  south,  resembling  lines  of 
ocean-waves  arrested  in  their  swell.  Standing  on  the  brow 
of  one  of  the  advanced  lines  of  these,  and  looking  far 
away  into  the  intermediate  valley,  he  sees  on  his  right 
the  Shenandoah  coining  up,  chafing  and  foaming  like  a 
noble  steed,  having  ranged  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains 
a  hundred  miles  in  quest  of  an  outlet ;  and,  on  the  left, 
rolling  on  with  equal  volume  and  vehemence,  the  Poto 
mac.  He  trembles  for  the  thunder  of  their  meeting, 
but  needlessly  ;  rushing  with  united  force  upon  their 
prison  walls,  they  rend  them  asunder,  and  spring  away 
exultingly  towards  the  sea,  while  everything  around  them 
seems  to  breathe  a  welcome;  green  lands  lying  in  a  de 
lightful  calm  partake  their  sunshine,  and  the  heavens  stoop 
to  print  a  kiss  upon  their  bosom. 

These  hills,  from  the  marine  exuviae  found  embedded 
in  their  summits,  have  given  rise  to  much  geological  spec 
ulation,  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  with  his  usual  vivacity,  sup 
poses  the  possibility  of  their  having  once  formed  a  barrier 
to  an  inland  ocean  (not  the  Mosaic  Deluge).  To  the  social 
philosopher  they  are  more  interesting  from  the  fact  of 
having  long  proved  a  levee  to  a  human  tide,  and  thereby 
exercised  an  important  influence  on  the  national  develop 
ment.  Abounding  as  America  does  with  the  wonders  of 
nature,  still  I  think  these  possess  but  a  secondary  claim 
on  our  attention  if  unassociated  with  the  being  for  whose 
dwelling-place  the  world  was  formed.  I  have,  therefore, 
abstained  from  noticing  the  curiosities  which  in  every 
day's  ride  met  my  eye  (even,  for  instance,  the  natural 
bridge  of  limestone  over  Cedar  Creek  in  Virginia),  be- 

8* 


178  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

cause  feeling  them,  to  rank,  in  human  interest,  below  the 
commonplace  acclivities  of  the  Allcghany  hills. 

Rivers  and  mountains  seem  to  be  the  two  features  of 
the  earth  which  have  most  influenced  the  character  and 
happiness  of  men.  The  former  have  led  to  general  inter 
course  and  change;  the  latter,  shutting  up  communities 
into  inner  worlds,  have  perpetuated  their  aboriginal  rough 
ness.  The  river-valley  has  been  the  arena  for  taste  and 
refinement,  but  also  for  oppression.  On  the  mountain-top 
the  flame  of  liberty  has  burned  brighter  in  a  rarefied  air, 
although  the  vessel  that  contained  it  was  unadorned. 
These  opposite  conditions,  however,  both  advanced  the 
march  of  their  great  equalizer — intelligence — by  the  les 
sons  they  have  given  to  each  other.  The  hills  in  question, 
if  they  have  not,  as  yet,  like  those  of  Spain  and  Wales, 
been  fled  to  as  a  barrier  to  the  step  of  regal  tyrants,  have 
performed  the  same  service  against  social  ones.  Rearing 
their  frowning  fronts  to  the  great  mob  of  emigrants,  they 
have  incited  the  hardy  and  industrious  to  surmount  them, 
but  discouraged  the  lazy  and  dissolute,  who,  looking  only 
to  immediate  ease,  assumed  their  aspect  to  be  a  sample  of 
the  lands  beyond  them,  and  turned  away  to  the  more  con 
genial  clime  of  the  South.  Thus  they  secured  to  the 
Western  region  a  hardy  population,  able  to  cope  with  the 
hazards  and  privations  which  attended  its  first  settlement, 
and  to  promote,  by  enterprise  and  principle,  its  lasting 
welfare ;  and  at  this  day  they  form  the  line  of  separation 
between  the  two  main  divisions  of  character  which  the 
Union  contains. 

There  appears  to  have  been  three  kinds  of  settlers  who 
penetrated  the  Western  woods,  and  severally  formed  eras 
in  their  civilization.  The  first  were  squatters ;  men  who 
had  outlived  their  characters  and  fortunes  in  other  parts 
of  the  Union  and  been  goaded  by  the  law  into  a  taste  for 
savage  freedom.  Accordingly  they  moved  off  to  the 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA,  179 

West,  where  the  rights  of  property  were  as  yet  defined 
only  by  the  agreeable  condition  of  possession.  These 
necessary  pioneers  were  shaped  in  frame  and  spirit  to 
sustain  the  dangers  and  difficulties  of  their  undertaking, 
to  defy  alike  the  Indian  and  the  wolf,  the  tempest  and  the 
cold.  With  a  gun  and  a  dog,  a  wagon  and  a  wife,  per 
haps  with  a  cow  and  a  pig,  they  pursued  their  lonely  path 
through  stream  and  prairie  to  some  inviting  spot,  there 
felled  trees  for  a  log  hut  and  an  outhouse  for  their  cattle, 
and  dug  the  cleared  space  to  raise  a  few  vegetables;  but 
here  their  labor  ceased.  Their  gun,  snares,  and  fishing- 
lines  supplied  them  with  abundance  of  provisions,  and 
they  were  able  to  exchange  the  skins  of  their  victims  for 
rum  and  ammunition.  This  was  the  advanced  guard  of 
the  whites,  which  the  Indian  had  to  resist  or  to  retire  from. 
If  lead  or  liquor  gave  them  the  victory,  neighbors  collected 
round  by  right  of  purchase,  and  as  the  claims  of  society 
extended  the  squatter  became  again  unhappy.  Defined 
right,  or  the  sacrifice  of  private  to  the  general  good,  was 
the  fiend  that  haunted  him.  His  cattle  had  to  be  restrained 
from  trespassing,  and  his  traps  and  lines  were  discovered 
within  the  circle  of  his  neighbor's  grant.  Turning,  at 
length,  indignantly  from  the  grovellers  who  talked  of 
law,  while  he  professed  the  older  doctrine  of  discovery, 
he  put  his  wagon,  wife,  and  cattle  once  more  in  motion, 
and  plunged  farther  into  the  wood;  until,  again  disturbed 
by  company,  he  pushed  again  upon  the  track  of  his  fel 
low-savage,  with  whom  he  ended  his  days  either  in  amity 
or  blood.  Such  was  the  squatter's  illustration  of  the  in 
stability  of  all  things,  he  being  known  sometimes  to  "  break 
ground,"  as  it  was  termed,  three  or  four  times,  before  the 
advancing  flood  of  population. 

The  second  class  were  adventurers,  generally  with  more 
imagination  than  courage,  and  more  money  than  skill — 
virtuous  enthusiasts  who  had  schemed  in  cities  a  state  of 


180  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

primitive  enjoyment  to  be  realized  in  woods.  Their  funds 
were  chiefly  expended  in  the  purchase  of  stock  and  im 
plements  which,  on  reaching  the  spot,  they  imagined 
would,  by  some  intuitive  energy  or  instinct,  get  to  work 
of  their  own  accord.  Instead  of  a  wretched  log  hut  they 
planned  a  substantial  wood  dwelling  with  appropriate 
dependencies,  but  before  it  was  half  up,  so  much  more 
pleasant  was  it  to  design  than  to  execute,  their  cattle 
had  strayed  or  died,  and  frosts  had  come  on  before  their 
fields  were  cleared,  or  their  crops  under  cover;  until  the 
Utopian's  ideas  getting  confused,  he  resigned  activity  for 
speculation,  and  resorted  daily  to  the  nearest  tavern  to 
consider,  over  some  strong  toddy,  the  best  means  of  recov 
ering  his  property.  This  proved  such  a  bellows  to  his 
imaginative  powers  that  he  invented  a  hundred  schemes 
before  he  could  adopt  one,  and  the  one  that  at  length 
crowned  his  term  of  lucubration  was  that  of  turning  over 
the  whole  affair  to  some  better  judge,  who  would  supply 
him  with  dollars  enough  to  get  back  to  his  old  quarters. 

On  the  heels  of  this  class  came  the  third  and  thoroughly 
substantial,  chiefly  New-Englanders,  who  brought  a  cap 
ital  in  their  heads  as  well  as  their  purses,  a  knowledge 
and  decision  which  swept  away  all  difficulties  and  light 
ened  all  fatigues.  By  them  a  frowning  wilderness  was 
speedily  converted  into  teeming  meadows,  and  the  well- 
stocked  farm  into  the  growing  settlement. 

On  our  wray  to  Pittsburgh  we  met  with  various  speci 
mens  of  the  backwoodsman,  and  I  must  say  that,  when 
clad  in  their  green  hunting-shirts,  with  deerskin  caps  and 
leggings,  their  muscular  altitude  fully  displayed  in  the 
free  handling  of  their  long  rifles,  they  presented  the  most 
picturesque  appearance  I  had  ever  seen.  I  soon  perceived 
in  them  some  decided  characteristics,  such  as  a  sharp 
insight  into  character,  a  ceaseless  suspicion,  and  a  quiet 
humor.  They  had  a  mode  of  leaning  on  their  guns  and 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  181 

surveying  a  stranger  which  struck  me  as  singularly  intel 
ligent.  It  had  nothing  of  the  common  vulgar  vacuity  of 
the  seashoresman ;  it  implied  conviction,  not  inquiry ;  a 
look  that  said,  not  "  Who  are  you?"  but  "I  know  you." 

My  good  friend,  Mr.  Clay,  had  one  alloy  which,  with 
out  warranting  Dr.  Johnson's  anathema,  certainly  depre 
ciated  his  precious  metal — a  love  of  punning.  As  a  proof, 
after  we  had  endured  the  scrutiny  of  one  of  these  natives 
at  the  door  of  an  inn  for  several  minutes,  I  asked,  in  order 
to  abash  him,  "what  mountains"  the  fellow  came  from. 
"Can't  you  perceive?"  rejoined  my  friend,  "the  All-leg- 
and-eye!" 

With  the  shooting  exploits  of  these  men  the  world  is 
generally  familiar.  Some  of  them  have  been  too  extraor 
dinary  to  be  credited ;  such,  for  instance,  as  enlarging  the 
eye  of  a  tin  cock  on  a  church  steeple,  or  sending  a  bullet 
half  a  mile  across  a  river  to  perforate  a  milk-pail  on  the 
head  of  some  Lavinia  who,  without  the  slightest  intima 
tion  of  the  cause,  suddenly  perceives  the  white  stream  flow 
ing  down  her  shoulders.  Dr.  Ramsey,  in  his  "History  of 
the  War,"  relates,  as  an  authenticated  fact,  that  after  the 
engagement  at  King's  Mountain  riflemen  were  found  dead 
on  both  sides  each  with  one  eye  shut  and  a  bullet  lodged 
in  his  brain,  evidently  having  fired  together  at  each  other 
and  been  killed  in  the  act  of  killing.  I  myself  witnessed 
the  feat  of  splitting  a  bullet  on  a  razor  at  a  hundred  paces, 
and  cutting  the  string  of  a  flag  at  three  hundred.  But 
their  crowning  achievement  was,  perhaps,  the  most  com 
mon — "  shooting  the  tin-cup;"  when  a  man  had  the  courage 
to  place  a  cup  on  his  bare  head  and  stand  at  a  hundred 
paces  to  have  it  knocked  off,  coolly  surveying  the  muzzle 
of  the  rifle  as  it  was  levelled  at  his  brow,  and  guiding  the 
marksman  to  raise  or  lower  it  until  the  aim  was  true. 
Had  death  been  even  occasionally  the  result  of  this  amuse 
ment,  its  prohibition  by  the  state  must  have  followed ; 


182  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

but  such  a  thing  was  unknown.  Here  was  William  Tell's 
great  feat  occurring  as  a  daily  diversion,  and  illustrating 
bow  skill  creates  courage. 

On  approaching  Pittsburgh  we  were  struck  with  a  pe 
culiarity  nowhere  else  to  be  observed  in  the  States:  a 
cloud  of  smoke  hung  over  it  in  an  exceedingly  clear  sky, 
recalling  to  me  many  choking  recollections  of  London. 
Instead  of  wood  they  here  use  coal,  mines  of  which  are 
plentiful  in  the  neighborhood.  I  found  the  town,  which 
was  called  the  Western  Exchange,  a  reflex  of  New  York, 
the  same  earnest  bustle  in  its  business,  and  the  same  na 
tional  variety  in  its  thickly  thronging  strangers.  Here 
were  natives  of  every  state,  besides  English,  Irish,  and 
Scotch,  French,  German,  Dutch,  Jews,  and  Indians. 
Among  this  motley  group  I  was  destined  to  make  an  un 
looked-for  acquaintance,  a  Mr.  Wools,  who  had  been  one 
of  the  early  actors  in  America  with  Morris,  but  who  had 
quitted  the  stage  about  the  year  1770,  to  follow  the  pro 
fession  of  land-surveying.  This  had  led  him  among  the 
Indians  near  the  Mississippi,  where  he  had  married  a  king's 
daughter,  and  received  for  her  dowry  a  tract  of  land  which 
he  soon  contrived  to  convert  into  a  handsome  independ 
ence.  As  he  had  his  time  upon  his  hands,  I  prevailed 
on  him  to  accompany  me  down  the  Ohio,  assured  that  his 
knowledge  of  its  Indian  customs  and  antiquities  would 
prove  a  source  of  amusement.  Among  other  things,  I 
asked  him  to  describe  the  marriage  ceremony  with  his 
wife,  and  the  nature  of  a  honeymoon  among  the  Southern 
tribes,  which  he  did  as  follows : 

In  every  village  there  was  erected  what  was  called  a 
"  wooing-hut,"  containing  two  rooms,  having  separate  en 
trances,  and  a  small  aperture  through  which  a  voice  but 
not  a  body  could  pass.  When  a  pair  wished  to  approxi 
mate,  if  the  chiefs  made  no  objection,  they  were  conducted 
in  due  form  to  these  rooms  and  the  doors  were  fastened 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  183 

upon  them,  when,  like  Pennsylvania!!  "buiidlers,"  they 
passed  the  night  in  innocent  conversation.  If  their  wishes 
continued  unchanged  in  the  morning,  they  were  appointed 
their  respective  tasks  as  tests  of  their  good  condition. 
The  gentleman  was  ordered  to  fell  a  tree,  something  small 
er  round  than  a  horse,  lop  its  twigs,  and  drag  it  a  mile. 
Other  trifling  experiments  on  his  spinal  column  succeeded. 
The  lady  was  commanded  to  plunge  into  a  stream  and 
swim  against  the  tide,  to  display  her  fortitude;  then  to 
pursue  and  scalp  some  wild  animal,  to  show  her  skill  in 
domestic  usages;  and,  lastly,  to  take  a  club  and  defend 
herself  against  the  attacks  of  her  admirer,  to  prove  her 
ability  to  resist  a  surprise.  The  zeal  with  which  she 
demonstrated  her  affection  in  this  latter  trial  was  very 
touching ;  a  husband  could  never  press  his  wife  with  full 
rapture  to  his  bosom  until  she  had  broken  his  head.  How 
Wools  contrived  to  elude  this  ceremony  I  am  not  aware. 
The  next  day,  at  sundown,  their  hands  were  joined  by  the 
parents;  a  blessing  was  pronounced  by  a  chief;  and  rum, 
love,  and  harmony  were  distributed  by  the  bridegroom. 

The  honeymoon,  like  a  chief's  fame,  depended  upon 
various  contingencies — temper,  weather,  beauty,  leisure, 
and  rum — for  to  bear  the  burden  of  wedlock  some  In 
dians  required  no  small  stock  of  spirits.  In  the  first  gust 
of  enjoyment  they  would  take  long  rambles  to  bring  home 
to  their  brides  a  rare  skin  or  plumage;  but  these  walks 
daily  narrowed  in  their  circle,  until — unless  affection  was 
revived  by  absence  on  some  military  expedition — the  red 
skin  fell  into  the  established  indifference  of  European  life. 
The  savage  actually  seized  by  instinct  upon  the  perfection 
of  a  well-educated  Parisian  husband's  deportment — he 
divided  the  house  with  his  spouse  and  took  the  outside  ; 
or,  if  he  remained  within,  treated  her  as  a  part  of  the  fur 
niture.  If  the  lady  had  noble  blood  in  her  veins  this  was 
not  endured.  She  smote  him  in  return  with  a  two-edged 


184  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

weapon,  her  tongue ;  and  perhaps  a  struggle  ensued  in 
which  she  proved  she  had  sufficient  energy  when  put  to 
the  pinch.  Too  often  an  Indian  wife's  happiness  depend 
ed  on  this  seeming  paradox :  if  her  tribe  was  at  peace 
when  she  married,  war  commenced  very  soon,  but  if  at 
war,  peace  was  perpetuated. 

From  Pittsburgh  we  proceeded  about  fifty  miles  by 
land  to  Wheeling,  a  point  of  junction  on  the  river-bank. 
Here  we  were  enabled  to  select  a  craft  with  good  accom 
modations,  and  in  a  few  hours  saw  ourselves  gliding  away 
over  the  glassy  surface  of  the  Ohio. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  give  a  topographical  account 
of  our  passage  to  Blennerhasset.  This  is  not  a  guide 
book,  but  a  record  of  scenes  and  circumstances  which  gave 
rise  to  pleasurable  feelings.  I  shall  confine  myself,  there 
fore,  to  two  things:  the  general  appearance  of  the  river, 
and  the  numerous  antiquities  which  line  its  banks.  Well 
may  they  call  the  Ohio  "  the  pride  of  the  Western  waters," 
for  it  presents  the  image  of  the  pride  of  human  nature — 
a  young,  tranquil,  pure-minded  female,  emerging  joyously 
into  life  beneath  the  smile  of  a  benignant  sky.  Without 
rock  to  ruffle,  or  fall  to  shatter  her  calm  surface,  she  glides 
away  to  Louisville,  where  her  descent  typifies  the  trial- 
time  of  life,  till  at  length  she  springs  into  the  bosom  of  a 
lordly  bridegroom,  the  broad  and  bounding,  the  great 
and  glorious  Mississippi.  A  gentle  spouse  is  the  Ohio  to 
this  master  of  the  North,  who  rushes  from  his  mountain 
heights  to  track  three  thousand  miles  in  one  continued 
thunder,  subjecting  the  earth  on  all  sides  to  his  sway. 

So  pellucid  is  the  water  of  the  Ohio  that  I  speak  within 
bounds  when  I  say  that  I  could  see  clearly  to  the  depth 
of  eighteen  or  twenty  feet,  while  so  magical  was  the  glass- 
iness  of  its  surface  that  it  appeared  to  me  like  a  broad 
sheet  of  crystal,  in  which  the  various  boats  were  partially 
embedded.  Nor  was  this  beauty  suffered  to  grow  monot- 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  185 

onous.  Winding  perpetually  in  its  course,  its  banks  at 
every  bend  present  some  new  feature,  from  the  smoothly 
sloping  savannah  to  the  high  and  abrupt  bluff;  a  thicket 
one  moment  bounding  the  view  on  both  sides  and  shading 
the  flood's  sweet  breast  with  gloom,  but  rapidly  gliding 
by  to  be  succeeded  by  an  open  range  of  landscape  over 
which  the  eye  seemed  capable  of  travelling  to  the  blue 
waves  of  the  Pacific,  slumbering  on  the  verge  of  the  hori 
zon,  in  calm  contiguity  to  heaven. 

The  banks  which  riveted  our  eyes  the  most  were  those 
that  bore  Indian  antiquities  —  forts  or  cemeteries  —  the 
relics  of  a  nation  evidently  mighty  in  intelligence,  what 
ever  may  have  been  the  amount  of  its  numbers  or  re 
sources.  These  relics  are  the  most  interesting  objects  on 
the  surface  of  the  American  continent,  for  they  present, 
perhaps,  the  only  key  to  the  solution  of  that  long-unset 
tled  question,  whence  came  the  aboriginal  population  of 
the  country? 

With  the  generally  received  opinion  set  forth  by  Dr. 
Robertson,  that  North  America  was  peopled  from  the 
North  of  Asia,  every  reader  must  be  familiar.  So  many 
resemblances  are  to  be  traced  between  the  wandering 
hordes  of  both  countries,  modified  solely  by  local  circum 
stances,  that  the  fact  seems  undeniable.  Admitting  this, 
how  is  the  peopling  of  South  America  to  be  explained, 
which  presents,  in  almost  every  point,  a  decided  contrast 
to  its  sister  land.  Whether  we  take  the  one  broad  dis 
tinction  that  the  Southern  aborigines  possessed,  when  first 
discovered,  a  social  character,  living  together  in  cities, 
submitting  to  established  laws,  and  devoting  their  lives 
to  peaceful  agriculture,  while  the  Northern  displayed 
the  sternest  features  of  the  savage — war  their  trade,  the 
woods  their  home,  and  hunting  their  sole  employment;  or 
whether  we  go  into  the  particulars  of  personal  formation, 
language,  and  domestic  arts  and  usages,  we  perceive  that 


186  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

all  arc  opposite,  and  that  the  chief  differences  are  due  not 
to  local.,  but  moral  causes.  Of  these  the  principal  was  an 
established  religion  which,  making  the  altar  of  its  god 
the  throne  of  its  king,  secured  general  loyalty  and  order 
by  mental  influence;  while  a  mere  vague  belief  in  a  good 
spirit  prevailing  in  the  North  created  no  law,  but  left  all 
to  individual  will.  Now,  did  the  political  religion  of  the 
former  grow  out  of  any  circumstances  of  the  country,  or 
was  it  imported  ?  The  land  had  but  one  peculiarity — an 
abundance  of  the  precious  metals ;  were  these  the  likely 
means  to  build  up  a  faith  which  should  command  their 
actions?  Certainly  not ;  they  valued  gold  and  silver  only 
for  their  beauty,  not  for  intrinsic  worth.  The  national 
character  had  adapted  itself  to  local  circumstances,  not 
been  formed  by  them. 

As  it  is  thus  evident  that  the  Northern  and  Southern 
aborigines  were  descendants  of  a  widely  different  stock, 
the  question  is,  on  what  nation  of  Asia  might  the  latter, 
with  some  degree  of  credibility,  make  out  a  case  of  affilia 
tion?  Am  I  too  fanciful  in  discovering  numerous  affini 
ties  between  the  characteristics,  moral  and  personal,  of 
this  race  and  the  Chinese,  weakened  to  their  present  de 
gree  of  faintness  by  time  and  the  distance  of  their  transit, 
which  might  have  taken  place  after  some  rebellion,  when 
a  leader  and  his  party  were  expatriated.  The  nations 
have  at  least  these  features  in  common — configuration  of 
countenance,  worship  of  the  sun,  a  love  of  congregating 
in  cities,  and  an  ingenuity  in  various  arts  arising  from 
their  social  relations. 

Some  of  the  principal  Indian  antiquities — with  the  gen 
eral  character  of  which  most  are  acquainted — are  to  be 
found  at  Marietta,  where  a  square  area  of  forty  acres  is 
enclosed  by  a  firm  wall  of  peculiarly  cemented  earth,  ten 
feet  high,  which  has  three  openings  at  equal  distances  on 
each  side.  Similar  constructions  are  to  be  seen  on  the 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  187 

banks  of  the  Muskingum,  where  the  ramparts  are  upwards 
of  eighteen  feet  in  height,  and  on  a  hill  near  the  Tioga 
River,  where  the  defences  are  surrounded  by  an  entrench 
ment  and  various  pits,  which  had  evidently  been  dug  and 
covered  over  to  receive  assailants — all  attesting  ingenuity 
and  the  existence  of  system — besides  the  sculpture  of  hu 
man  and  animal  heads,  helmets,  spears,  etc.,  on  rocks  in 
various  parts  of  the  country.  The  surrounding  Indians 
do  not  possess  a  single  tradition  connected  with  these 
remains,  being  confident  of  but  one  thing,  that  they  were 
not  the  work  of  their  own  ancestors,  a  fact  which  their 
ignorance  of  system,  if  not  stratagem,  in  all  military  mat 
ters,  fully  bears  out.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  they 
are  to  be  attributed  to  an  earlier  people  than  the  supposed 
Kamschatkans,  who  either  abandoned  them  after  their 
erection,  or  were  killed  in  them  by  new-comers.  On  the 
supposition  that  a  band  of  expatriated  Chinese  passed 
round  by  the  Strait  of  Behring,  once  probably  an  isthmus, 
to  the  Northwest  coast,  it  follows  that,  in  search  of  a  mild 
er  climate,  they  would  have  pursued  their  track  by  the 
base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  (a  direct  and  natural  path, 
these  being  evidently  a  continuation  of  the  Andes)  until, 
arriving  at  the  prairies  of  Louisiana,  a  diversion  was  made 
to  the  East  for  a  more  fertile  country,  and  afterwards, 
either  from  internal  dissensions  or  the  attacks  of  a  strange 
race,  they  erected  these  works.  Then,  perhaps,  a  superi 
ority  of  numbers  induced  them  to  relinquish  the  struggle 
and  continue  their  journey  to  the  South,  passing  over  the 
Isthmus  of  Darieii  to  a  country  which  shut  them  out 
henceforth  from  communication  with  their  successors. 
This  conjecture  is  countenanced  by  another  of  Mr.  Jeffer 
son's —  that  the  two  continents  wrere  at  one  period  an 
entire  body,  of  which  the  West  India  Islands  formed  the 
capes  and  headlands;  that  by  frequent  earthquakes  they 
were  torn  asunder;  and  that  the  constant  operation  of  the 


188  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

trade  currents  from  east  to  west  hollowed  out  the  present 
basin  of  the  Gulf.  Thus  it  is  but  necessary  to  suppose  that 
the  transit  took  place  before  these  convulsions,  and  the 
flood  formed  the  most  effectual  medium  to  wash  out  the 
print  of  their  footsteps,  and  to  wall  in  their  character.  This 
is,  at  least,  a  somewhat  more  probable  solution  of  the  mys 
tery  of  the  Southern  aborigines  than  the  opinion  that  they 
were  a  remnant  of  the  ten  tribes  of  Israel  after  the  first 
dispersion;  or,  as  asserted  by  others,  that  they  were  visitors 
from  the  South  Sea  Islands  who  had  performed  the  passage 
of  the  Pacific  in  canoes,  a  feat  which  would  have  required 
that  sea  to  have  well  merited  its  name.  The  old  romance 
of  America's  discovery  by  Prince  Madoc  has  a  much 
stronger  claim  on  our  belief,  from  the  fact  that  Welsh 
colonies  have  been  found  existing  in  the  heart  of  Indian 
tribes,  and  upon  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  we  actually  stum 
bled  on  one,  anterior  in  its  date  to  the  earliest  historical 
emigrants,  and  which  had  continued  so  exclusive  that  it 
was  still  scarcely  able  to  exchange  ten  words  of  English. 

After  a  slow  but  delightful  passage  of  twelve  days  we 
at  length  reached  the  goal  of  our  journey — the  fairy  crea 
tion  of  Blennerhasset.  To  describe  the  effect  of  its  ap 
pearance  I  do  not  hope  ;  I  can  only  endeavor,  by  means  of 
a  few  details,  to  place  the  scene  before  my  reader  and  leave 
the  filling-up  to  his  imagination. 

Blennerhasset  is  an  island  about  a  mile  in  circumference, 
lying  in  the  bed  of  the  Ohio,  which  had  been  made  the 
retreat  of  a  man  of  equal  taste  and  affluence.  The  ground 
rose  gradually  on  all  sides  to  its  centre,  and  on  this  favor 
able  spot  was  the  house,  erected  in  the  style  and  splendor 
of  a  Persian  pavilion.  It  was  but  sixty  feet  square,  con 
sisting  of  two  stories,  connected  with  wings  by  a  semi 
circular  veranda,  luxuriantly  covered  with  myrtle,  and 
commanded  an  extensive  range  of  one  of  the  loveliest  re 
gions  in  the  world.  The  grounds  were  laid  out  with  that 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  189 

better  modern  taste  which  superseded  the  monotonous 
straight  lines  and  close-cropped  Puritanic  borders  of  old 
English  gardening.  Everywhere  were  contrasts  and  sur 
prises,  evidencing  an  eye  that  had  surveyed  the  best 
effects  of  Europe;  and,  to  crown  the  whole,  walks,  lawns, 
and  shrubberies  were  blooming  with  all  the  flowers  and 
fruits,  and  vocal  with  all  the  melody  a  generous  clime  so 
liberally  dispenses  to  this  Italy  of  the  West.  The  effect 
of  this  contrast  between  the  perfection  of  wild  and  culti 
vated  loveliness,  of  this  discovery  of  a  triumph  of  Art  in 
the  very  stronghold  of  Nature,  was  perfectly  entrancing. 
What  changes  may  have  since  occurred  in  it  by  storm, 
caprice,  or  a  conformity  to  the  tastes  of  a  surrounding 
population  I  know  not,  but  until  I  go  to  my  grave  I  must 
bear  with  me,  as  of  a  dream,  the  remembrance  of  the  beau 
tiful  Blennerhasset.  All  that  I  could  learn  of  the  owner 
and  creator  of  this  Paradise  was  that  he  was  a  European 
recluse  who  had  arrived  in  these  regions  about  the  period 
of  the  French  Revolution,  and,  after  purchasing  the  island, 
lived  on  it  in  seclusion,  devoting  himself  to  its  adornment. 
Mr.  Clay  computed  that  the  estate  could  not  have  cost 
less  than  the  building  of  a  town,  and  that  the  mere  pur 
chase  and  transport  of  materials  must  have  involved  an 
expenditure  sufficient  to  have  procured  a  handsome  prop 
erty  in  any  part  of  the  Union. 

Philadelphia,  the  ensuing  winter,  proved  a  scene  of  un 
usual  gayety.  Balls  and  quadrilles  occupied  the  inter 
vening  nights  of  the  play;  not  to  divide  its  attraction,  but 
to  make  parties  for  its  support;  and  I  attended  many, 
not  from  any  love  of  the  dancing — for  I  have  always  pre 
ferred  taking  exercise  in  a  progressive  direction — but  to 
convince  myself  of  the  impudent  calumny  of  a  traveller 
(an  early  specimen  of  a  large  brood)  who  had  been  through 
the  States,  and  who  seriously  assured  me  that  he  had  been 
present  at  a  ball  of  the  first  respectability  in  Philadelphia, 


190  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

held  in  a  bay-loft,  up  a  ladder,  where  the  musicians  were 
a  crew  of  black  fiddlers,  and  the  refreshments  were 
served  up  in  earthen  jugs.  I  was  also  instrumental  in 
promoting  the  public  convivialty  by  founding  an  Ameri 
can  Beefsteak  Club,  round  the  table  of  which  I  was  en 
abled  to  collect  many  able  supporters  in  mind  and  voice. 
Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Carroll,  and  C.  Brockden  Brown  wcro 
among  our  visitors.  We  stocked  the  cellars  with  excel 
lent  wine;  the  working  of  my  old  regulations  spoke  a 
volume  on  the  subject  of  maintaining  order  in  a  free 
community,  and  our  harmony,  in  every  sense  of  the  word, 
was  perfect.  One  evening,  I  remember  that  it  was  inter 
rupted  by  a  singular  coincidence.  We  were  just  singing 
the  glee  of  "A  House  on  Fire,"  when  a  member  rushed  in 
to  congratulate  us  on  our  discernment,  since  "Rickett's 
Circus  "  was  at  that  moment  in  flames.  I  instantly  dis 
solved  the  meeting,  and  we  hurried  to  the  spot  to  render 
assistance,  but  in  vain;  the  destroyer  had  its  prey.  The 
wings  had  taken  fire  in  the  Hell  scene  of  Don  Juan,  which, 
getting  known,  brought  a  crowd  of  Quakers  to  survey 
what  they  considered  a  signal  retribution.  One  of  them 
was  so  unusually  excited  that  he  could  not  repress  his 
transports,  but  kept  crying  out  to  the  unfortunate  horse- 
riders  who  were  endeavoring  to  rescue  all  they  could, 
"Yea,  yea,  struggle  with  the  flames  as  thou  wilt,  thou 
must  soon  be  in  them;"  at  which  a  worthy  Irishman,  who 
was  handing  the  buckets  to  the  engine,  replied,  "  Will 
they?  Then,  I  tell  you  what,  my  darling,  it's  only  right 
to  keep  you  from  burning;"  and  with  these  words  he 
sluiced  the  predestinator  from  head  to  foot.  Mrs.  White- 
lock,*  our  tragedian,  witnessed  this  conflagration,  and  it 


*  Mrs.  WHITELOCK  Avas  one  of  Mrs.  Siddons's  younger  sisters,  and  she  is 
said  to  have  had  a  full  share  of  the  family  good  looks  and  acting  ability. 
She  was  born  in  1761 ;  she  acted  at  Drury  Lane  iu  1783,  and  in  1794  she 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  191 

so  disturbed  her  nerves  that  a  few  evenings  afterwards, 
just  as  she  had  been  effectually  smothered  as  Desdemona, 
the  front  cloudings  having  dropped  a  few  feet,  a  boy  in 
the  gallery  cried  out,  "  Higher  !  higher  !"  which  similar 
sounds  striking  her  sensitive  ears  she  started  up,  thrust 
aside  the  curtains,  and  exclaimed,  "  Good  heavens  !  fire?" 
The  roar  of  the  audience  and  the  look  of  Cooper  (no  mim 
icry  of  passion  now)  threw  her  back  to  her  recumbency, 
but  the  interest  of  the  scene  perished  with  her. 

I  also  became  a  member  of  a  more  important  society, 
the  "  St.  George's,"  instituted  for  the  relief  of  distressed 
English  emigrants.  The  number  of  instances  where  un 
foreseen  causes  had  brought  ruin  on  the  truly  deserving 
was  so  great  that  a  more  meritorious  fund  could  not  have 
been  established,  and  I  am  proud  to  say,  for  the  honor  of 
my  countrymen,  that  none  could  have  been  better  sup 
ported.  It  will  be  supposed  that  we  received  many  ap 
plications  which  did  not  come  within  the  scope  of  our  de 
sign.  Every  tourist,  in  fact,  who  had  quitted  England  on 
some  sudden  emergency,  and  neglected  to  calculate  his 
mode  of  subsistence,  made  a  point  of  applying  to  us.  In 
a  few  months  we  might  have  compiled  a  catalogue  of 
names  important  to  the  secretary  of  state.  Cases  that 
showed  a  lack  of  prudence  rather  than  principle  were  met 
by  private  subscriptions.  One  was  that  of  a  Mr.  Tubbs, 
who  had  formerly  been  a  merchant  of  some  standing  in 
London,  but  who  loved  a  playhouse  so  much  better  than 
his  own  that  his  ruin  as  a  trader  commenced  his  career 
as  an  actor.  Failing  to  bring  the  English  people  to  a 
sense  of  his  merits,  he  had  embarked  for  Jamaica,  where, 

made  her  first  appearance  in  America  at  Philadelphia,  in  Mrs.  Siddons's 
favorite  character,  Isabella,  in  the  "Fatal  Marriage."  She  returned  to 
England,  and  died  there  in  1835.  Mrs.  Kemble,  in  her  delightful  "  Records 
of  a  Girlhood,"  gives  a  most  amusing  account  of  the  meetings  of  her 
aunts  Siddons  and  Whitclock  after  both  of  them  had  left  the  sta<:e. 


192  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

a  similar  result  ensuing,  he  had  expended  his  last  shilling 
in  reaching  Philadelphia,  to  be  there  told  by  the  man 
ager  that  there  was  no  opening  for  his  services.  Hav 
ing  met  this  person  at  the  Anacreontic,  at  a  period  when 
he  patronized  acting,  I  could  not  help  commiserating  the 
change  he  had  undergone  in  embracing  his  vapory  Juno, 
so  employed  my  rhetoric  to  induce  him  to  give  up  the 
pursuit,  and  my  interest  to  get  him  appointed  supercargo 
to  a  West-Indiaman,  in  both  of  which  endeavors,  I  am 
glad  to  say,  I  was  successful.  I  was  afterwards  told  of 
something  that  had  occurred  to  Tubbs  on  his  way  to  Ja 
maica,  which  struck  me  as  amusing,  lie  had  taken  his 
passage  with  a  party  of  wild  Irish  emigrants  who  were 
going  to  the  West  Indies,  bent  on  "  picking  the  guineas 
from  the  gooseberry  bushes."  As  he  intended  during  the 
voyage  to  "  get  up  "  a  range  of  characters,  for  this  pur 
pose  he  got  up  every  night,  when  the  Hibernians  had  re 
tired,  and  traversed  the  clear  deck,  muttering  "  Richard," 
"Romeo,"  or  others  in  succession,  and  imagining  he  saw 
around  a  dense  crowd  of  listening  eyes  and  throbbing  bo 
soms.  His  illusion  was  not  altogether  unfounded.  Night 
after  night  the  watch  on  the  forecastle  had  been  observ 
ing  him,  though  hiding  themselves  by  mast  and  rigging, 
and  on  his  impassioned  gestures  and  mutterings  they 
could  put  but  one  construction.  lie  was  blessed  with  a 
towering  frame  measuring  about  six  feet  one,  with  a  ten 
dency  to  distend  from  a  Tubb  into  a  hogshead,  which 
made  him  seem  a  very  likely  person  to  head  the  Irishmen 
in  the  steerage  in  an  act  of  piracy.  The  crew  soon  made 
known  their  suspicions  to  the  captain,  who  enjoined  them 
to  have  an  eye  on  him  the  next  night,  and,  if  he  gave 
further  cause  for  -alarm,  to  seize  and  clap  him  under 
hatches.  Accordingly,  tucking  pistols  into  their  belts, 
the  watch  crept  under  the  shade  of  the  foremast  and  took 
up  their  usual  position.  Now  it  so  happened  that  on  this 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  193 

evening  Tubbs  had  bethought  him  of  an  experiment  on 
the  language  of  Renault  in  "  Venice  Preserved,"  believ 
ing  that  the  honeyed  villain  had  more  in  him  than  the 
public  had  ever  yet  seen.  Working  himself  up  to  a  good 
acting  pitch,  he  strode  towards  the  sailors  and  broke  into 
the  speech  in  which  Renault  gives  directions  to  the  con 
spirators  to  seize  the  city : 

"  Durand,  you 

Must  in  the  midst  keep  your  battalia  fast, 
And,  Theodore,  be  sure  to  plant  the  cannon. 
.     .     .     .  But,  above  all,  I  charge  you, 
Shed  blood  enough  !"  etc. 

All  of  which  being  interpreted  as  directions  to  the  Hi 
bernians,  two  of  whom  happened  to  steal  out  at  this  mo 
ment  for  a  breath  of  clear  air,  the  suspicions  of  the  watch 
wanted  no  further  confirmation.  Tubbs  was  seized  in  a 
jiffy,  and  half  a  dozen  pistols  held  to  his  head,  as  they 
opened  the  hatches  and  compelled  him  to  descend,  assail 
ing  him  with  such  Hebrew  as,  "  No,  you  don't  seize  the 
ship,  you  pirate  !  you  big-bellied  Picaroon  !"  etc.  Nor 
did  he  regain  his  liberty  until  he  had  explained  the  fact 
to  the  captain  at  least  half  a  dozen  times  :  a  salutary 
lesson  to  people  of  poetic  animus  how  they  forget  that 
the  world  about  them  is  stupidly  and  substantially  mat 
ter  of  fact. 

Tubbs  rose  after  this  to  comfortable  circumstances,  but 
his  stomach  distended  in  a  greater  ratio  than  his  purse,  a 
keenly  imaginative  spirit  evaporating  to  leave  the  sedi 
ment  of  an  animal  craving — love  for  swallowing,  rather 
than  giving  forth,  good  things.  This  gluttony  soon  un 
fitted  him  for  his  duties.  He  ate  and  ate,  and  swelled 
and  swelled,  till  one  captain  of  a  ship  objected  to  taking 
him  on  the  score  of  his  bulk  adding  to  the  cargo.  His 
end  was,  as  it  deserved  to  be,  a  painful  one.  He  fell  ill 
in  Baltimore,  got  into  debt  to  support  his  appetite,  and 

9 


194  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

his  creditors  surrounded  his  bed  in  his  last  moments  to 
try  and  g.et  their  dues.  "  Will  you  pay  me  for  these  din 
ners,  Mr.  Tubbs  ?"  "  Do  you  know,  sir,  what  you  owe  me 
for  oxtail  soup  :"  and  so  on.  They  were  at  length  in 
duced  to  leave  him,  and  the  moment  after  he  heard  that 
particular  murmur  from  the  abdominal  region  which  pre 
cedes  dissolution;  at  which,  opening  his  eyes  and  lips  for 
the  last  time,  he  exclaimed ;  "  What  the  devil  do  you 
grumble  for  ?  I  owe  you  nothing." 

Of  all  the  stories  I  heard  of  emigrants,  political  or  pri 
vate,  during  my  connection  with  the  St.  George's  Society, 
none  touched  me  more  than  the  account  of  a  worthy 
Frenchman  who  had  been  ruined  by  the  taking  of  St. 
Eustatius,  and  who  had  been  required  by  a  public  notice, 
with  all  others  in  the  island,  to  deliver  to  the  admiral  an 
inventory  of  his  effects.  On  the  day  appointed  for  the  re 
ception  of  these  documents  he,  not  having  appeared,  was 
sent  for.  The  officer,  entering  his  house,  found  him  sit 
ting  at  a  table  in  a  poorly  furnished  room,  his  head  lean 
ing  on  his  hand  and  his  brow  deeply  graven  with  the  lines 
of  affliction.  On  being  reminded  of  the  inventory  he 
took  up  a  pen  and  wrote  simply  as  follows:  "Point  d^  ar 
gent  ;  point  de  biens  ;  point  de  commerce;  point  de  credit; 
point  de  reputation;  settlement  wi  paume  cczur  rompu" — 
No  money;  no  goods;  no  trade;  no  credit;  no  reputation ; 
only  a  poor,  broken  heart. 

It  amused  us  occasionally  to  read  some  of  the  Western 
newspapers,  whose  editors  being  also  the  printers,  often 
composed  an  article  as  they  set  it  up.  Many  provincial 
isms  were  adopted  as  the  readiest  modes  of  expression, 
which,  to  Europeans,  w^ere  not  very  intelligible.  For  in 
stance,  an  advertisement  to  the  legal  profession  would 
frequently  commence  thus:  "A  gentleman  of  considera 
ble  experience  in  the  law  line,  wishes  a  dependency." 
Now  English  people  imagining  that  the  "  law  line  "  could 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  195 

only  allude  to  the  rope  which  government  gratuitously 
presents  to  some  of  its  acquaintance,  would  naturally  con 
clude  that  a  gentleman  of  some  experience  had  had  suffi 
cient  "dependency"  already.  Again,  tracts  of  land  in 
the  Union  which  connected  large  towns  with  small  ones 
were  called  "  necks,"  as,  the  Neck  of  Boston,  for  instance. 
It  was,  therefore,  no  unusual  thing  to  read,  "To  be  sold, 
part  of  Abraham  Lawrence's  neck."  An  announcement 
that  might  confirm  some  of  the  English  people  in  their 
belief  that  the  Americans  were  cannibals.  These  mistakes 
may  be  classed  with  those  I  have  sometimes  heard  of  in 
houses  of  business,  resulting  there,  not  from  language,  but 
penmanship.  A  merchant  I  knew  in  Norfolk  once  wrote 
to  his  London  agent  to  send  him  thirty  thousand  black 
Tacks;  the  letter  T  not  being  distinctly  formed,  the 
agent  read  it  black  Jacks,  and  after  rummaging  Birming 
ham,  Sheffield,  etc.,  could  only  obtain  about  a  fourth  of 
the  number,  which  he  sent  on,  saying  the  rest  should  fol 
low  as  soon  as  possible.  A  more  startling  surprise  was 
that  of  a  London  merchant  who  in  a  letter  to  his  agent  in 
Brazil  requested  that  he  would  remit  him  one  or  two 
monkeys,  but  inserting  figures  instead  of  letters  (1  or  2) 
it  had  the  appearance  of  a  thousand  and  two.  The  agent, 
after  scouring  the  province  to  collect  them,  was  compelled 
to  engage  the  entire  hold  of  a  ship  to  convey  them.  We 
may  imagine  the  feelings  of  the  sailors  with  these  fidgety 
passengers  during  a  two  months'  voyage,  but  hardly  those 
of  the  merchant  they  were  consigned  to. 

The  negroes  as  well  as  the  actors  in  America  were  sup 
posed  to  have  profited  by  the  yellow  fever.  It  was  be 
lieved  that,  from  some  physical  cause,  they  were  in  a  de 
gree  impregnable  to  the  infection,  and  they  were,  conse 
quently,  generally  employed  as  nurses.  The  opportunities 
thus  afforded  them  of  rifling  the  dead,  when  the  malady 
had  swept  off  every  member  of  a  family,  were  sometimes 


196  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

too  tempting  for  their  ideas  of  rectitude,  so  that  it  became 
a  common  remark  that  you  might  know  where  the  fever 
had  been  raging  by  the  Sunday  dress  of  the  black  women. 
But,  however  confused  might  be  their  notions  about 
other  people's  property,  the  world  could  never  retaliate 
by  robbing  them  of  what  was  peculiarly  their  own — their 
humor.  Various  instances  of  this  were  given  me,  even 
on  so  grave  a  subject  as  the  above. 

A  wealthy  female  of  Philadelphia  having  been  seized 
with  the  fever  in  coming  home  from  a  ball,  was  in  a  few 
hours  brought  apparently  to  the  verge  of  dissolution.  All 
her  relations  took  flight,  fearful  of  sharing  a  fate  they 
could  not  avert,  and  a  black  nurse  was  sent  for.  While 
lying  in  this  state  a  valuable  necklace  she  had  been  wear 
ing  was  carefully  put  away  by  her  attendant,  to  prevent 
its  getting  soiled.  It  pleased  Heaven  that  this  lady 
should  recover,  and  after  a  few  days,  remembering,  among 
other  worldly  things,  her  necklace,  she  asked  Hannah 
about  it.  The  handmaiden  replied,  she  "  belieb  when 
missy  go  to  die,  she  gib  neckliss  to  lady  to  keep."  Nat 
urally  concluding  that  this  lady  must  be  one  of  her 
friends,  she  made  inquiries  when  her  health  was  restored, 
and  discovered  that  no  such  circumstance  had  occurred. 
Her  nurse  was  by  this  time  nowhere  to  be  found;  but  the 
lady  was  fortunate  enough  to  meet  with  her  a  short  time 
afterwards  in  the  South,  dressed  in  the  highest  burlesque 
of  fashion,  and  with  the  identical  diamond  necklace  repos 
ing  on  her  bosom,  like  a  line  of  stars  streaking  a  thunder 
cloud.  "Hannah!"  exclaimed. the  owner,  with  an  amazed 
look;  "I  thought  you  told  me  I  gave  my  necklace  to  a 
lady  to  keep."  "  Iss,  missy,"  was  the  cool  reply,  as  the 
black  aristocrat  took  off  the  precious  ornament  and  re 
turned  it,  "  oo  gib  um  to  me  /" 

Fennel  was  once  taken  ill  at  Baltimore,  and  on  sending 
for  a  nurse  inquired  her  terms.  "  Me  ask  oo  two  dollar  a 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  197 

day,  Massa  Fennel."  "Two  dollars!"  lie  exclaimed; 
"that's  double  the  ordinary  charge."  "Iss,  why,  'cause 
oo  get  well  so  berry  soon."  "  What  do  you  mean  ?"  in 
quired  the  tragedian.  "  I  go  to  gallery  ob  a  play  some 
time,  and  I  see  oo,  massa,  always  berry  bad  at  night  and 
quite  well  in  a  morniri',  so  I'm  tinting  I  shall  nebber  get 
de  fibe  dollar  f  pr  lay  oo  out."  Fennel  was  so  cheered  by 
this  impression  that  he  got  well  on  the  strength  of  it, 
and  said  he  never  paid  an  extortion  so  willingly. 

Towards  the  fair  sex,  in  a  literal  sense,  my  devotion 
was  never  Called  in  question,  but  I  must  confess  I  had  al 
ways  an  antipathy  to  black  women.  An  Englishman,  I 
believe,  always  associates  purity  with  absence  of  color, 
and  feels  that  only  whiteness  can  be  angelic.  To  me  the 
connection  has  ever  appeared  so  sacred  I  did  not  like  to 
have  it  disturbed  by  even  looking  at — "  Black  scandal  and 
foul-faced  reproach."  And  as  to  my  wife,  if  I  could  have 
consented  to  her  being  attended  by  a  negress  at  a  certain 
period,  I  should  have  expected  that  the  result  would  have 
come  frowning  into  the  world  and  thrown  a  shade  upon 
my  hearth  for  the  rest  of  my  days.  For  this  prejudice, 
which  was  no  doubt  a  ridiculous  one,  I  was  now  destined 
to  be  punished. 

On  an  exceedingly  cold  though  clear  night,  the  snow 
having  fallen  to  the  depth  of  some  feet,  I  was  returning 
alone  from  a  party;  and  by  the  side  of  a  wall  in  a  back 
street,  which  was  a  short  cut  to  my  dwelling,  but  was 
backward  also  as  regards  lamps  and  watchmen,  I  had 
proceeded  but  a  few  paces  when  I  heard  the  pattering  of 
a  pair  of  broad  feet  behind  me;  and  as  I  thought  it  not  un 
likely  these  might  belong  to  some  necessitous  foreigner 
who  wished  to  make  an  inquiry  respecting  my  purse,  I 
conceived  that  I  was  not  compromising  my  dignity  by  ad 
mitting  that  "  discretion  is  the  better  part  of  valor " — 
which  is  to  say,  less  elegantly,  that  I  took  to  my  heels  and 


198  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

ran.  At  this  the  steps  of  my  pursuer  quickened,  and  a 
voice  summoned  me  to  stop.  My  fears  were  now  con 
firmed,  and  I  need  scarcely  add  that  my  policy  was  per 
sisted  in;  but  unluckily  the  hardened  snow  upon  the  path 
way  had  become  so  glassy  that  it  was  impossible  to  plant 
a  step  with  certainty.  Speed  wTas  therefore  perilous,  and 
in  my  efforts  to  maintain  mine  I  at  length  missed  my 
footing  and  pitched  into  a  bank  which  instantly  enclosed, 
in  a  sort  of  self-adapting  vise,  every  inch  of  my  body. 
Feeling  that  resistance  was  now  out  of  the  question,  I 
endeavored  to  find  my  way  to  my  purse,  to  purchase  re 
lief  from  my  prison ;  and  as  my  pursuer  drew  nigh  turned 
the  one  eye  I  had  at  liberty  to  survey  him.  Him  ? — oh, 
horror !  it  was  a  she,  a  black  woman  as  large  as  any  two 
aldermen  that  were  ever  distended  upon  turtle,  and  whom 
I  concluded  at  once  to  be  one  of  those  erring  daughters  of 
Cytherea,  who  at  nightfall  prowled  abroad  for  exhilarated 
planters.  To  describe  her  person  I  can  hardly  find  terms. 
She  was  a  latitudinarian  of  no  ordinary  dimensions,  but 
her  height  was  equal  to  her  periphery;  her  head  was 
buried  in  a  mound  of  fat,  with  eyes  that  rolled  like  moons 
in  an  eclipse,  half  black,  half  white,  divided  by  a  nose  as 
flat  as  her  forehead,  and  flaming  over  the  abyss  of  a  semi 
circular  mouth.  All  these  bodily  enormities  were  ex 
ceeded  by  her  behavior.  She  looked  on  all  that  had 
passed  as  so  good  a  joke  that  her  huge  frame  was  con 
vulsed  with  merriment;  peals  of  echoing  laughter  came 
gurgling  up  her  throat,  and  as  she  approached,  panting, 
blowing,  and  roaring,  her  fat  hands  tucked  into  her  sides 
and  her  pavior's-mallet-like  feet  shaking  the  earth  at  every 
step,  I  could  think  of  nothing  but  an  elephant  in  a  tiger- 
chase.  As  a  climax  to  the  affair  it  was  impossible  she 
could  miss  me,  since  it  was  ordained  I  should  select  my 
bed  within  four  feet  of  the  only  lamp  in  the  street.  When 
she  reached  me,  another  and  another  shout  succeeded,  and 


INTROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  199 

then  her  voice  mellifluously  framed  the  exclamation,  "  Oh, 

00  naughty  man,  to  run  away  from  pretty  ooman  !"     Fan 
cy  the  full  horror  of  my  situation  !     Had  it  been  a  foot 
pad,  who  would  have  first  robbed  and  then  murdered  me, 

1  could  have  submitted  with  comparative  complacency; 
but  to  fall  into  the  grasp  of  such  a  moral  ogre,  bound,  as 
it  were,  hand  and  foot,  with  no  friend  at  hand  to  avert 
or  drop  a  tear  over  the  catastrophe.     I  had  but  one  hope 
— that  in  attempting  to  drag  me  out  she  might  plunge  me 
under  the  snow,  and  so  consign  me  to  a  blissful  suffoca 
tion. 

After  calling  me  alternately  "  lub "  and  "  naughty 
man  "  several  times,  and  finding  that  neither  made  me 
move,  she  extended  a  hand,  like  the  wing  of  a  bat,  to  ex 
tricate  me.  Seizing  me  by  the  shoulder,  her  great  eyes 
distending  in  triumph,  she  released  me  from  my  position 
with  all  the  ease  of  lifting  a  feather.  The  moment  my 
feet  touched  the  ground  my  courage  returned,  for  I  heard 
footsteps  approaching,  and  again  I  darted  off  at  full  speed, 
this  time  being  luckily  able  to  maintain  my  footing.  To 
my  mingled  wonder  and  delight  she  did  not  pursue  me, 
but  burst  again  into  a  peal  of  laughter,  and  as  I  receded 
I  could  hear  the  ogress  still  enjoying  my  fright;  nor  did 
the  derisive  sounds  seem  to  quit  my  ears  till  I  had  fairly 
passed  through  and  closed  my  door.  On  subsequent  re 
flection  it  struck  me  that,  after  all,  I  was  perhaps  mis 
taken  as  to  this  person's  character.  She  might  have  been 
merely  a  mad  wag  in  search  of  excitement  —  a  female 
Falstaff,  a  black  "Jack;"  she  was  as  fat,  apparently  as 
funny;  and  one  kind  office  she  had  certainly  done  me,  in 
my  extrication.  I  believe  this  adventure  had  its  good 
effect,  for  I  began  to  look  at  the  color  so  much  more 
steadfastly  after  that  as  to  diminish  my  alarm  on  all 
future  occasions. 

My  favorite  place  of  resort  in  Philadelphia  was  Peele's 


200  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Museum,  the  first,  and  for  many  years  the  only,  public  col 
lection  of  natural  curiosities  in  the  Union.  Of  their  ex 
tent  and  preservation  it  is  needless  to  speak  here.  No 
traveller  has  entered  this  city  without  awarding  the  pro 
prietor  his  due  meed  of  praise.  The  object  that  attracted 
most  attention  was  the  skeleton  of  that  wonderful  quad 
ruped,  the  mammoth,  which  has  so  sufficiently  disproved 
the  assertions  of  Buff  on  about  the  "  belittling  influence  " 
of  the  climate.  Yet  this  did  not  interest  me  so  much  as  a 
far  less  obtrusive  feature  of  the  collection:  a  bow,  with 
which  was  connected  so  striking  a  history  that  I  shall 
take  leave  to  repeat  it. 

An  African  prince,  defeated  in  a  native  battle,  gave 
himself  up  on  condition  that  he  might  retain  his  bow  and 
quiver.  Bought  from  his  conquerors  for  some  bauble, 
and  consigned  to  the  Carolinas,  he  was  there  again  sold  as 
a  slave ;  but  his  pleasing  face  and  manners  secured  for 
him  in  all  situations  the  privilege  of  keeping  his  arms, 
the  only  relics  of  his  former  power,  the  sole  objects  of  his 
affection.  His  strength  and  stateliness  recommended  him 
to  Colonel  Mottle,  a  humane  master,  in  whose  service  he 
died,  the  bow  and  quiver  being  gratefully  preserved  in 
the  colonel's  family  as  memorials  of  his  fortitude  and 
fidelity.  In  the  campaign  of  1781  the  widow  of  Colonel 
Mottle  (who  had  died  a  patriot)  was  ejected  from  her 
house  on  the  River  Congaree,  to  make  room  for  a  British 
garrison.  When  this  garrison  was  besieged  by  a  small 
detachment  of  Americans,  whose  approaches  were  within 
gunshot,  the  widow,  who  lived  in  a  cottage  not  far  from 
her  former  dwelling,  was  informed  that  an  unwillingness 
to  injure  her  property  was  the  only  impediment  to  its  re 
duction.  "Regard  not  me,"  she  replied,  "at  such  a  time 
as  this.  I  will  show  you  the  best  means  to  effect  your 
purpose."  Then  producing  the  bow,  "This,"  said  she, 
"  belonged  to  a  faithful  servant,  who  bent  it  in  the  cause 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  201 

of  freedom  in  Africa.  An  arrow  from  it  will  easily  carry 
a  match  to  the  roof."  The  bow  was  instantly  supplied 
with  the  missile,  and  a  blazing  roof  soon  brought  capitu 
lation,  when  the  Americans  entered  the  defences,  and  the 
Englishmen  joined  them  in  extinguishing  the  flames. 

The  magnanimity  of  a  prince  and  the  heroism  of  a 
woman  are  nothing  uncommon,  but  the  novelty  consisted 
in  this  primitive  weapon,  devoted  to  the  cause  of  freedom 
in  one  continent,  serving  in  the  same  cause,  under  such 
different  circumstances,  long  after,  in  another;  escaping 
all  hazards,  to  be  presented,  by  a  struggler  in  the  conflict, 
to  this  museum,  as  a  memento  equally  interesting  to  trav 
eller  and  native. 

9* 


CHAPTER  IX. 

1800-1. — The  Carolinas.— Journey  to  Charleston  ;  a  Carolina  Ordinary. — 
Social  Characteristics. — Deer-killing;  a  Dead  Shot. — A  Planters'  Ball; 
the  "Caroliny  Jig." — Stories  of  the  Swamps;  the  Spectre  Troop,  etc. — 
Legal  Latin. — Colonel  Tarleton  and  Major  Hanger ;  Pranks  among  the 
Planters. — Baron  de  Glaubeck's  Troop  and  Title. — Anecdote  of  the  Irish 
Brigade.— Charleston  Society ;  Varieties  of  Color. — The  Ugly  Club  ;  its 
Rules;  Ordeal  of  a  Member. —  Carolina  Dews. —  Pishing  and  Bites; 
Scene  with  a  Snake;  a  Lively  Hut. — Alligators;  the  River  Lawyer;  a 
Civilized  Specimen. — Samples  of  Black  Humor ;  the  Criminal  a  Judge. 
—Byrne's  Visit  to  Jamaica ;  his  Retreat. 

I  HAD  been  frequently  invited  by  my  old  friend  Pla- 
cide*  to  pay  a  visit  to  Charleston  during  the  summer 
months,  but  had  always  objected  on  account  of  the  cli 
mate,  which  had  waged  war  specially  with  my  unfortunate 
brethren.  At  length  good  health,  curiosity,  and  the  van 
ity  of  superior  prudence  overcame  my  scruples,  and  I  set 
out  for  Charleston  in  the  summer  of  1800,  in  my  usual 
conveyance,  a  light  wagon  drawn  by  one  horse,  and  fully 
accoutred  with  fowling-piece,  fishing-rod,  etc.,  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  whatever  opportunities  the  road  might  afford. 
I  have  mentioned  the  peculiar  state  of  the  roads  in  Yir- 
.ginia;  as  they  ran  southwards  they  got  worse..  Houses 
were  farther  apart,  intercourse  more  confined,  swamps 

*  ALKXANDER  PLACIDE  was  a  native  of  France,  who  appeared  in  Paris 
and  London  as  a  gymnast  and  performer  on  the  tight-rope  with  great  suc 
cess.  He  came  to  America  towards  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  was 
for  many  years  manager  of  the  theatres  at  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  Rich- 
mond,Va.  He  died  of  yellow  fever  in  1812.  His  children,  Henry,  Thomas, 
Jane,  Caroline  (Mrs.  Waring — Mrs.  "W.  R.  Blake),  and  Eliza  (Mrs.  Ashbury 
— Mrs.  Mann),  were  important  figures  upon  the  American  stage. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  203 

more  abundant,  and  taverns — their  necessary  consequence 
— more  wild  and  provincial.  These  were  the  original 
milestones,  for  people  computed  by  them  all  intermedi 
ate  distances;  they  were  the  arena  for  the  chief  business 
of  the  country — betting,  gambling,  and  dram-drinking; 
and  they  were  also  houses  of  "  entertainment " — that  is, 
to  survey,  not  to  inhabit.  In  order  that  the  nature  of  a 
Carolina  ordinary  (or,  as  it  ought  properly  to  have  been 
termed,  extraordinary)  may  be  accurately  apprehended, 
I  will  venture  to  depict  one,  as  a  sample. of  some  dozen 
I  was  doomed  to  encounter  during  the  journey  in  ques 
tion.  They  were  mostly  log-huts,  or  a  frame  weather- 
boarded;  the  better  sort  consisting  of  one  story  and  two 
rooms;  the  more  numerous  having  no  internal  divisions, 
with  a  truly  sociable  character  placing  all  upon  a  level,  and 
forbidding  the  existence  of  parties.  One  corner  of  the 
room  would  be  occupied  by  a  "bunk,"  containing  the 
family  bed;  another  by  a  pine- wood  chest,  the  family 
clothes-press  and  larder;  a  third  would  be  railed  off  for  a 
bar,  containing  a  rum-keg  and  a  tumbler.  The  rest  of  the 
furniture  consisted  of  two  chairs  and  a  table,  all  in  the 
last  stage  of  palsy.  Their  external  distinctions  were  few, 
but  peculiar.  You  might  always  know  an  ordinary,  on 
emerging  from  the  woods,  by  an  earthen  jug  suspended 
by  the  handle  from  a  pole;  the  pipe  of  the  chimney  never 
rising  above  the  roof;  or  a  score  of  black  hogs  luxuria 
ting  in  the  sunshine  and  mud  before  the  door.  On  pull 
ing  up  at  one  you  usually  found  the  landlord  gone  to 
market,  the  landlady  cutting  wood  in  the  swamp,  "Joe" 
hoeing  corn  in  a  field,  and  only  a  squalling  child  upon 
the  floor  and  a  ferocious  house-dog  to  receive  you.  On 
some  of  the  family  arriving,  you  were  stared  at  as  a  God 
send,  destined  to  be  made  the  most  of.  If  hunger  and  fa 
tigue  compelled  you  to  remain,  a  little  Indian  corn  for 
your  horse,  and  a  blanket  on  the  hearth,  with  your  saddle 


204  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

for  a  pillow,  to  represent  a  bed,  were  the  most  you  would 
obtain.  In  summer  a  man  would  sometimes  vary  Ins  en 
joyment  by  stretching  himself  outside  near  the  pigs,  un 
der  the  said  blanket  stretched  over  four  stakes,  to  keep 
off  the  dews  and  mosquitoes.  As  to  edibles,  whether  you 
called  for  breakfast,  dinner,  or  supper,  the  reply  was  one 
— eggs  and  bacon;  but  the  meal  brought  not  a  gratifica 
tion,  but  a  task.  Here  the  motto  was — ultra  indepen 
dence;  every  man  his  own  servant.  Ten  to  one  you  had 
to  cook  the  meal  yourself,  while  the  landlady  was  search 
ing  for  a  trencher;  and,  when  it  was  before  you,  you  were 
sure  of  only  one  thing — to  pay  for  it.  No  sooner  were 
you  seated  than  the  house-dog  (of  the  large  wolf  breed) 
would  arrange  himself  beside  you,  and  lift  his  lank,  hun 
gry  jaws  expressively  to  your  face.  The  young  children, 
never  less  than  a  dozen  (the  women  seeming  to  bear  them 
in  a  litter  in  these  regions),  at  the  smell  and  sight  of  the 
victuals  would  set  up  a  yell  enough  to  frighten  the  wolves, 
till  the  hostess  quieted  them  by  saying  that  they  should 
"  have  some  when  the  gentleman  had  done,"  with  a  sig 
nificance  of  look  and  emphasis  which  plainly  told  you, 
you  were  not  to  eat  too  much.  By  this  time  a  party  of 
indomitable  black  cats  were  clawing  at  your  elbow,  to 
hint  their  claim  to  come  in  for  snacks;  and,  if  you  were 
not  expeditious  in  bolting  your  fare  (mastication  was 
impossible),  one  or  the  other  of  these  enterprisers  would 
be  on  the  table  and  unflesh  your  fork  as  it  was  going  to 
your  mouth,  or  clear  the  dish  while  you  paused  in  con 
sternation.  They  had,  in  fact,  a  decided  system  of  at 
tack,  surrounding  you  on  all  sides,  and  no  sooner  was  one 
cuffed  down  than  another  sprang  up,  so  that  your  hand, 
instead  of  emptying  your  plate,  was  kept  whirling  in  de 
fence  of  it,  in  the  style  of  the  broad-sword  exercise.  All 
this  was  very  little  recompensed  by  conversation.  If  the 
landlord  were  present,  he  talked  only  of  the  high  price 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  205 

of  New  England  rum  (just  at  the  time  you  were  put 
ting  yours  to  your  lips),  or  the  market  for  turpentine 
and  tobacco;  so  that  you  were  probably  driven  out-of- 
doors  for  amusement,  when  the  best  that  offered  was  to 
see  your  horse  fed;  for  if  you  did  not  stand  beside  him 
with  your  whip,  the  poultry  would  hold  a  consultation 
round  the  rim  of  his  meal-tub,  and  not  leave  him  suffi 
cient  to  grease  his  teeth.  At  a  receptacle  of  this  kind  I 
was  compelled,  on  one  occasion,  to  take  shelter  from  a 
storm,  and  passed  the  night  in  a  wooden  chair,  my  legs 
upon  a  tub,  my  head  vainly  endeavoring  to  find  repose 
upon  the  rail;  the  wind  and  thunder  rocking  the  hut  like 
a  cradle;  the  lightning  blazing  in  at  every  window  and 
crevice,  till  all  seemed  on  fire;  and  the  whole  set  off, 
though  not  relieved,  by  a  chorus  of  wolves  in  the  woods, 
who  now  and  then,  I  thought,  were  running  round  the 
house,  as  though  dislodged  from  their  own  tenements, 
and  exceedingly  mortified  that  I  did  not  quit  mine.  The 
famished  cry  of  a  beast  that  has  no  dislike  to  humanity, 
and  the  rapid  pattering  of  his  feet  round  a  cabin  that  was 
tumbling  to  pieces,  and  in  the  heart  of  a  forest  which, 
from  extent  alone,  deserved  its  title  of  "  eternal,"  formed 
a  novelty  of  which,!  confess,  I  never  desired  a  repetition. 
Luckily  the  necessity  did  not  again  occur.  I  was  plenti 
fully  supplied  with  letters  of  introduction  to  proprietors 
in  North  and  South  Carolina,  and  at  their  hospitable  resi 
dences  I  made  it  a  point  to  stop  if  nightfall  was  approach 
ing  and  no  town  at  hand. 

I  perceived  some  difference,  I  must  own,  in  the  char 
acter  of  my  entertainers  and  the  gentlemen  of  Virginia. 
With  quite  as  large  a  measure  of  conviviality  and  frank 
ness,  they  possessed  less  intelligence  and  suavity  of  man 
ner.  Unlike  the  latter,  they  appeared  to  have  intention 
ally  narrowed  the  circle  of  their  intercourse;  and  here 
still,  as  in  the  old  times  in  Virginia,  racing,  betting,  cock- 


206  RETROSPECTIONS   OF   AMERICA. 

fighting,  and  hard  drinking  formed  the  staple  rather  than 
the  auxiliary  enjoyments.  A  planter  usually  passed  his  time 
between  his  overseers  and  a  tavern,  where  he  called  daily 
to  talk  politics,  play  at  all-fours,  make  bets,  and  "  stand 
treat "  for  mint-sling,  which,  as  you  proceeded  southward 
ly,  obtained  the  medicinal  name  of  an  "  antif ogmatic." 
Here,  if  he  could  light  on  any  companions,  like  the  Vir 
ginians  he  carried  them  home  to  dinner  :  if  it  proved  a 
wet  evening,  cards,  toddy,  and  cockfighting  formed  the 
sources  of  stimulus;  but  if  fine,  and  there  was  no  moon 
light,  their  diversions  were  varied  by  an  excursion  for 
deer-killing.  A  party  well-armed  with  guns  and  brandy 
sallied  into  the  woods,  preceded  by  a  nigger  carrying 
some  lighted  charcoal  in  a  pan.  The  victims  were  so 
fascinated  by  the  light  that  they  always  stared  at  it 
transfixed,  while  its  reflection  on  their  eyeballs  gave  the 
sportsman  an  unerring  aim.  This  may  seem  to  a  Euro 
pean  a  very  dull  amusement,  but  it  was  accompanied  by 
so  much  scratching  from  briers,  sinking  in  swamps,  and 
dislodging  of  rattlesnakes,  that  a  man  was  kept  in  a  per 
petual  state  of  excitement.  Sometimes,  also,  very  ludi 
crous  mistakes  occurred  from  the  multiplying  faculty  of 
the  shooter's  vision,  the  amount  of  game  being  frequently 
determined  by  his  amount  of  brandy;  so  that,  after  an 
immense  deal  of  devastation,  when  the  blacks  were  sent 
to  collect  the  spoil,  they  would  proclaim,  with  a  convul 
sion  of  laughter,  the  identity  of  the  dead  deer  with  cer 
tain  stumps  and  bushes. 

I  once  heard  of  the  joke  ending  seriously  for  a  host 
who  piqued  himself  on  his  superior  eye  and  rifle.  He 
was  entertaining  a  party  one  evening  with  a  history  of 
his  feats,  when  they  expressed  a  wish  to  witness  a  speci 
men.  Stimulated  by  two  kinds  of  spirit — love  of  glory 
and  rum — he  ordered  the  necessary  preparations,  and  led 
the  way  with  his  lauded  weapon,  his  friends  laying  a  heavy 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  207 

wager  that  he  would  not  kill  ten  deer  in  twice  as  many 
minutes.  Now  it  happened,  all  unknown  to  him,  that  his 
cattle  had  been  turned  into  the  woods  a  few  hours  pre 
viously,  and  he  stumbled  upon  just  the  spot  where  they  had 
made  a  rendezvous.  Pitchy  darkness,  swimming  heads, 
and  the  order  to  lie  close  prevented  discoveries  till  exter 
mination  had  commenced.  The  planter,  surrounded  by 
blacks  who  loaded  his  guns  and  kept  the  fire  in  a  bright 
flame,  in  less  than  ten  minutes  had  doubled  the  required 
number.  At  the  moment,  however,  that  his  triumph  and 
his  party's  consternation  were  rising  to  a  climax,  a  vener 
able  cow,  whose  back  had  been  grazed  by  a  bullet,  felt 
impelled  to  get  up  and  send  forth  a  long  moan  of  remon 
strance.  The  mistake  was  instantaneously  revealed;  right 
and  left  the  dead  or  dying  tenants  of  his  meadows  were 
identified.  The  betters  burst  into  an  uproar  of  laughter; 
the  negroes,  fearing  that  his  gun  would  next  be  levelled  at 
themselves,  threw  down  the  light  and  scampered.  Choked 
with  vexation,  but  overpowered  by  drams,  the  planter 
raved,  swore,  and  jumped  about  in  the  darkness  like  a 
demon.  Nor  did  the  return  home  tend  to  allay  his  irrita 
tion,  for  a  mile's  scramble  through  the  woods  in  the  gloom 
of  Erebus  usually  divested  the  wanderer  of  his  hat,  boots, 
or  skirts,  as  well  as  some  portion  of  his  beauty. 

One  of  the  ruling  amusements  of  the  Carolinas  was 
dancing,  the  French  having  apparently  inoculated  all 
classes  with  this  taste  in  its  most  confirmed  state.  The 
negroes  have  always  been  proverbial  for  their  homage  to 
St.  Vitus,  being  known  to  walk  five  or  six  miles  after  a 
hard  day's  work  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  flinging  about 
their  hands,  heads,  and  legs  to  the  music  of  a  banjo,  in  a 
manner  that  threatened  each  limb  with  dislocation.  But 
their  owners,  male  and  female,  in  these  quarters  partook 
of  the  infatuation.  I  was  present  at  a  wedding-party  in 
North  Carolina,  which  wound  up  with  violent  exercise 


208  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

under  the  title  of  a  ball.  The  company,  on  their  arrival, 
had  been  shown  promiscuously  into  two  rooms,  well-light 
ed  and  divided  by  a  thin  partition,  both  being  laid  out 
with  tea,  coffee,  sling,  and  toddy.  The  sexes,  however, 
soon  separated,  and,  for  the  space  of  an  hour,  the  merri 
ment  seemed  equal  on  each  side  of  the  wainscot.  At 
length  the  host  gave  the  signal  for  clearing  decks  and  pre 
paring  for  action;  the  tables  and  partition-boards  (sliding 
in  a  grove)  were  instantly  removed  by  the  blacks,  to  form 
the  requisite  arena,  and  the  seats  were  ranged  round  the 
walls.  The  musicians  (half  a  dozen  operators  on  catgut, 
of  the  same  color — Orpheii,  born  during  their  father's 
visit  to  the  Shades)  were  then  introduced  at  one  end,  and 
the  diversion  commenced  by  a  gentleman  leading  a  lady 
to  the  middle  of  the  room,  and,  after  a  formal  salutation, 
bursting  into  an  eccentric  movement,  wrhich  to  me  had  a 
new  and  peculiar  significance.  No  regular  steps,  but  a 
latitude  of  shuffle  was  adopted,  in  a  system  of  alternate 
pursuit  and  retreat,  now  the  lady,  now  her  partner  gain 
ing  the  advantage,  testing  at  every  turn  the  respective 
strength  of  their  sinews.  One  moment  the  lady,  pressed 
closely  to  a  corner,  appeared  on  the  verge  of  a  surrender, 
then  suddenly  recovered  spirit,  dashing  the  besieger  back 
and  chasing  him  into  the  like  peril.  The  forces  drawn  up 
on  all  sides  were  prepared,  however,  to  rescue  either  party 
from  the  shame  of  a  defeat,  for  at  the  moment  I  expected 
to  see  a  wearied-Out  maiden  sink  into  her  conqueror's 
arms,  or  a  gentleman  make  an  elegant  submission,  a  friend 
would  start  forward  to  the  relief  in  the  full  vigor  of  his 
or  her  powers,  and  enable  the  exhausted  one  to  make  an 
honorable  retreat.  So  these  tactics  were  continued 
through  the  evening  till  every  Damon  and  Delia  had 
partaken  of  them,  and  some  had  displayed  their  abilities 
three  or  four  times,  when  the  lines  were  formed  for  a 
country-dance,  and  in  this  general  expression  of  amity 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  209 

and  fellowship  the  contest  concluded.  There  was  evi 
dently  much  figurative  meaning  in  this  performance,  as 
well  as  a  military  character,  that  attested  its  French  ori 
gin;  for  the  French  have  always  had  the  credit  of  being 
most  expert  at  fighting  and  hopping,  and  history  tells  us 
that  they  have  sometimes  combined  them.  I  saw  plainly, 
too,  that  a  few  such  dances  must  afford  good  evidence  of 
a  lady's  tact  and  bodily  condition,  and  perhaps  one  of  the 
best  criterions  by  which  a  man  could  discover  his  chance 
of  holding  the  reins  of  government  in  case  of  their  union. 

Before  concluding  my  remarks  on  the  mass  of  planters 
I  should  mention  that  I  intend  them  to  apply  rather  to 
those  in  North  than  in  South  Carolina,  and  in  Georgia 
more  than  in  either.     The  reason  I  could  not  discover, 
but  I  was  most  happy  to  find  that  the  South  Carolinians 
displayed  comparative  refinement,  a  love  of  books  and  the 
arts,  and  a  share  of  polite  as  well  as  solid  information. 
Perhaps  the  secret  was  that  they  associated  less  with  their\  ; 
inferiors,  and  gave  their  wives  and  children  better  educa-1  ; 
tions.     Certainly  I  recognized  here  a  near  approach  to\ 
everything  Virginian. 

The  most  marked  feature  of  the  Southern  country  was 
the  swamps,  which  not  only,  on  account  of  their  fogs,  ex 
ercised  a  bibatory  influence  on  the  character  of  those  liv 
ing  near  them,  but  supplied  endless  traditions  to  the  gos 
sips.  Some  of  these  related  to  the  war,  and  required 
nearly  as  great  a  swallow  in  the  listener  as  was  attributed 
to  the  swamp.  One  tale  told  of  the  mysterious  disap 
pearance  of  a  whole  regiment  of  king's  troops,  who,  late 
at  night,  had  lost  their  track  over  the  morasses;  and  how 
their  spirits  were  accustomed  to  come  up  to  the  surface 
on  moonlight  nights  to  go  through  their  evolutions,  the 
colonel  riding  about  on  a  beautiful  white  horse,  and  the 
men  marching,  presenting,  firing,  falling  into  line,  and 
forming  solid  bodies  with  the  utmost  regularity;  all  of 


210  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

which  the  eyes  of  various  travellers  had  accidentally  es 
pied — though  I'll  take  ray  oath  I  was  not  one  of  them. 
The  negroes,  again,  supposed  that  the  devil  had  apart 
ments  in  these  places,  seeing  that  his  powers  had  such 
full  play  in  their  neighborhood,  and  that  he  lay  in  wait 
for  all  who  incautiously  wandered  near  them,  in  order  to 
introduce  the  intruders  by  a  short  cut  to  his  dominions. 

A  very  fair  satire  by  a  foreigner  upon  Southern  travel 
ling  ran  as  follows:  A  gentleman  walking  near  the  verge 
of  a  swamp  saw  a  man's  hat  on  the  ground.  As  the  beaver 
appeared  to  be  in  good  condition,  he  stooped  to  pick  it  up, 
when,  to  his  great  surprise,  he  heard  a  voice  proceed  from 
beneath,  desiring  him  not  to  meddle  with  it.  He  lifted 
it,  nevertheless,  and  perceived  a  man's  head  just  above  the 
surface  of  the  earth.  Alarmed  at  his  situation,  he  pro 
posed  to  call  his  slaves  and  have  him  dug  out.  "  Don't 
trouble  yourself,  friend,"  replied  he  of  the  swamp,  "  I  am 
very  well  mounted."  "Mounted?  good  heavens,  sir  !  is 
it  possible  that  you  have  a  horse  under  you  ?"  "  A  cap 
ital  one,"  was  the  answer,  "  for  he  lias  carried  me  some 
hundreds  of  miles."  "But  permit  me,"  persisted  the 
planter,  "  to  send  for  assistance,  or  you  will  lose  him." 
"Lose  him  ?"  exclaimed  the  stranger  ;  "my  good  sir,  he 
has  travelled  fifty  miles  since  daybreak,  and  this  is  the 
first  firm  footing  he  has  come  to." 

But  the  swamps  were  not  merely  useful  in  growing  rice 
and  entombing  travellers;  they  proved  a  qualifier  to  the 
rigors  of  the  law,  in  the  manner  of  the  sanctuaries  of  old; 
for  to  them  most  of  the  cockfighters  and  jockeys  who 
could  not  pay  their  debts  fled  for  refuge.  The  system 
was  for  the  defendant  to  run  in  up  to  his  ears,  desiring 
his  pursuer  to  follow  and  take  him  out,  which,  if  the 
latter  declined  (considering  his  cloth  suit  the  more  impor 
tant  of  the  two),  it  was  an  understood  thing  that  he  for 
feited  his  claim.  A  constable  having  once  run  an  old  fox 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  211 

to  earth  in  this  manner,  and  not  being  able  or  willing  to 
sit  down  before  the  stronghold  and  starve  him  out,  was 
puzzled  to  know  how  to  return  the  writ,  in  good  legal 
language,  to  its  issuer.  At  length  he  applied  to  a  gentle 
man  of  some  humor,  who  dictated  the  following  line  of 
very  passable  Latin  :  "  Johannes  Dykes — non  cumatibus 
in  S wampum." 

On  my  way  to  Charleston  I  gleaned  many  anecdotes  of 
my  old  friends,  Colonel  Tarleton  and  Major  Hanger,  who, 
before  the  commencement  of  their  convivial  career  in 
London,  essayed  the  field  of  glory  in  this  quarter.  Tarle 
ton  was  formed  by  nature  to  be  a  captain  of  Cossacks. 
In  the  field  or  in  the  street  the  man  was  invariably  a 
dasher,  having  all  that  reckless,  dare-devil,  neck-or-noth- 
ing  enterprise  which  is  always  ready  for  a  blow  and  never 
counts  on  a  repulse.  In  America  he  deservedly  cut  a  con 
spicuous  figure,  for  all  that  was  done  for  the  king  in  the 
Southern  States  must  be  attributed  to  him  and  Lord  Raw- 
don.  His  pell-mell  mode  of  attack  told  extremely  well  on 
undisciplined  troops,  since  he  could  cut  up  the  half  of  a 
body  before  it  could  make  use  of  its  arms;  while  his  ex 
pedition,  in  scouring  the  country,  confirmed  his  successes 
and  retrieved  his  defeats.  This  flying  about  procured  for 
him  a  reputation  with  the  old  women  nearly  akin  to  Lu 
cifer's.  Noises  were  never  heard  in  the  night,  no  wind 
could  whistle  by,  but  the  galloping  of  "  Tarleton's  Troop  " 
was  distinctly  recognized,  so  that  at  length  his  name  be 
came  the  popuar  bugbear  to  scare  the  babies  to  bed. 

Hanger  never  came  forward  in  the  same  manner;  partly, 
I  imagine,  because  he  never  got  the  opportunity,  and  also 
that  he  had  not  a  true  military  animus.  Hanger  was  a 
thorough  convivialist — a  man  who  loved  the  whole  human 
race  so  well  that  he  would  have  liked  to  spread  the  earth 
like  a  table  and  convert  the  ocean  into  punch.  He  must 
have  hated  fighting,  since  it  destroyed  good-fellowship,  and 


212  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

have  despised  all  manoeuvring  but  that  of  bringing  bodies 
amicably  together.  Had  he  been  put  in  command  when 
a  battle  was  impending,  he  was  the  sort  of  man  who 
would  have  desired  his  antagonist  to  crack  a  bottle  of 
wine  with  him,  and  so  settle  the  matter  without  the  non 
sense  of  cracking  sconces. 

Tarleton  and  Hanger,  being  a  good  deal  together,  were 
in  the  habit  of  relieving  the  fatigues  of  duty  by  adven 
tures  among  the  planters,  sometimes  in  assumed  charac 
ters,  though  their  own  were  more  facetious.  It  was  re 
lated  of  them  that  learning  there  wTas  to  be  some  dancing 
at  an  adjacent  estate,  on  the  occasion  of  a  family  festival, 
they  resolved  to  be  present,  believing  that  their  mere 
names  would  be  a  sufficient  introduction.  They  accord 
ingly  rode  thither  unattended,  knocked  at  the  door  of  the 
house,  pretended  they  had  lost  their  way,  and  desired 
entertainment  for  the  night.  They  were  respectfully  re 
ceived  by  the  planter,  who  ordered  a  room  to  be  prepared 
for  them;  but,  as  this  did  not  meet  their  wishes,  they  ex 
pressed  a  desire  to  join  the  merrymakers.  The  gentle 
man  remonstrated,  fearing,  as  the  assembly  was  quite  pri 
vate,  that  their  presence  might  cast  a  shade  over  it.  They, 
however,  persisted,  and  at  length  their  host  was  compelled 
to  introduce  them  to  the  scene  of  festivity.  His  fears 
were  verified.  In  an  instant  the  music  seemed  to  cease, 
and  the  lights  to  go  out.  The  gallants,  however,  nothing 
abashed,  addressed  two  of  the  prettiest  girls  in  the  room, 
and  were  on  the  point  of  leading  them  back  to  their  di 
version  (for  what  Carolinian  can  resist  a  dance),  when  the 
tramp  of  horses  was  heard  without,  and  a  servant  ran  in 
to  inform  his  master  that  a  party  of  provincial  skirmish 
ers  were  in  the  yard,  who  required  to  speak  with  him. 
The  sudden  dismay  in  our  heroes'  faces,  and  the  triumph 
which  displaced  the  scowling  chagrin  of  the  beaux  about 
them,  may  be  imagined.  The  host,  a  superior  kind  of 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  213 

man,  of  mild  demeanor,  turned  to  the  intruders,  and,  with 
out  any  change  in  his  manner,  observed,  "  Now,  gentle 
men,  you  perceive  that  you  occupy  precisely  the  same 
situation  that  you  placed  me  in  ten  minutes  ago.  I  have 
no  doubt  the  warning  I  am  about  to  give  you  will  be 
thought  very  extraordinary."  Saying  this,  he  left  the  room, 
and  Tarleton  and  Hanger  expected  nothing  less  than  the 
appearance  of  a  dozen  muscular  countrymen  to  escort 
them  to  General  Greene's  headquarters.  In  a  few  minutes 
the  host  returned  to  them  and  said,  "  I  have  told  the  offi 
cer  of  the  party  that  this  room  is  full  of  my  friends.  In 
that  character,  though  you  did  not  come,  you  can  retire. 
Two  of  rny  slaves  have  led  your  horses  to  the  back  of  the 
stable.  I  trust,  gentlemen,  that  this  warning  will  not  be 
thrown  away."  Struck  with  the  spirit  of  this  return,  they 
warmly  acknowledged  their  offence  and  his  generosity, 
assured  him  the  warning  should  not  be  thrown  away, 
and,  politely  bowing  to  the  company,  made  good  their  re 
treat. 

From  another  incident  that  was  told  me,  it  appeared 
that  they  did  not  long  keep  their  word,  for  no  warning 
could  subdue  their  appetite  for  adventure.  Hanger  heard 
of  a  jollification  to  take  place  among  some  negroes  at  an 
other  plantation,  and,  as  an  observer  of  life  in  all  its  vari 
eties,  and  a  lover  of  humor  under  any  skin,  he  resolved  to 
be  present  at  it,  and  prevailed  on  Tarleton  to  accompany 
him.  Accordingly  they  made  their  appearance  at  the 
scene  of  action  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  briefly  ex 
plained  their  wish,  and  produced,  as  a  note  of  introduc 
tion,  a  gallon  of  superior  rum.  Nothing  could  have  been 
more  decisive.  Hanger  was  voted  with  acclamation  into 
the  chair,  Tarleton  became  his  vice,  and  in  a  short  time 
the  scene  reached  a  pitch  of  exhilaration  as  novel  as  it  was 
vivid.  It  was  like  a  gala  day  in  the  Shades,  as  the  Tarta- 
reans  laughed,  jumped,  danced,  and  sang  all  their  favor- 


214  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

ite  ditties — "  The  Praise  of  Bumbo,"  "  Virginny  Nigger 
berry  Good,"  "  I  Lost  my  Shoe  in  an  Old  Canoe,"  etc., 
etc. — till  the  merriment  grew  so  uproarious  that  an  over 
seer  was  induced  to  walk  towards  the  hut;  but,  hearing 
strangers'  voices,  he  paused,  opened  the  door  softly,  and, 
to  his  great  surprise,  recognized  the  visitors.  The  master 
of  this  person  was  a  patriot  in  secret  communication  with 
General  Greene,  and  who  this  evening  had  a  party  of 
their  mutual  friends  dining  with  him.  The  overseer  saw 
at  a  glance  at  once  his  duty  and  his  interest,  and,  closing 
the  door  unobserved,  ran  off  to  the  house  and  gave  the 
alarm.  The  company,  though  doubting  his  story,  instant 
ly  armed  themselves  and  made  for  the  spot;  but,  as  they 
approached,  perceived  a  group  before  the  hut  as  though 
drawn  up  to  resist  them.  The  fact  was  that  Hanger  had 
proposed  to  the  blacks  a  trial  of  agility,  wagering  an 
other  gallon  of  rum  that  he  and  his  companion  would 
beat  any  two  present  at  a  race.  The  two  fleetest  having 
been  selected  by  the  general  voice,  they  were  now  posi 
tioned  in  due  order  for  starting  when  a  discharge  of  pis 
tols  from  the  approaching  party  gave  an  unexpected  sig 
nal.  In  an  instant  every  man  became  a  racer;  all  was 
flight  and  terror;  and  so  much  game  presented  itself  in 
the  darkness  that  Hanger  and  Tarleton  were  enabled  to 
gain  their  horses,  in  an  adjoining  wood,  before  the  plan 
ters  had  beaten  up  the  blacks  and  discovered  the  right 
scent. 

I  also  heard  a  joke  of  Hanger's  which  struck  me  as 
being  very  characteristic.  At  the  attack  on  Camden  by 
Lord  Rawdon  he  pressed  every  available  man  into  the 
service,  not  even  excepting  the  musicians.  When  the 
prisoners  were  being  brought  in,  a  provincial  officer  com 
plained  of  brutal  usage  from  his  capturer.  "  After  I  had 
tendered  my  sword,"  said  he,  "  this  fellow  threw  down  his 
gun  and  began  to  pommel  me."  "  Well,  sir,"  said  Hang- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  215 

er,  "that's  nothing  extraordinary;  the  man's  a  drum 
mer" 

The  antagonist  that  gave  Tarleton  the  most  trouble  in 
the  South  was  the  Baron  de  Glaubeck,  a  German  cavalry 
officer  of  great  skill,  and  scarcely  his  inferior  in  activity. 
On  being  given  the  command  of  the  Carolina  cavalry  un 
der  Greene,  he  found,  at  their  first  review,  that  a  body  of 
three  hundred  men  could  not  muster  ten  swords  among 
them.  He  accordingly  ordered  them  to  arm  themselves 
with  good  hickory  sticks,  about  a  yard  long,  mounted 
with  iron  spikes;  and  when  he  had  trained  them  by  the 
most  effective  evolutions  in  the  use  of  these,  he  fell  upon 
a  body  of  Hessians,  when  his  party  so  plied  their  cudgels 
that  a  rout  ensued,  leaving  him  master  of  artillery  and 
baggage.  For  this  exploit  he  was  labelled  with  a  cogno 
men  which  has  since  been  applied  to  a  more  modern  hero, 
"  Old  Hickory." 

While  on  the  subject  of  soldierly  exploits,  I  cannot  re 
sist  mentioning  an  anecdote  of  the  Irish  Brigade — a  regi 
ment  whose  feats  and  vicissitudes  formed  so  interesting 
a  feature  in  the  military  history  of  the  last  century.  At 
the  siege  of  Savannah,  their  commander,  Count  Dillon, 
being  anxious  that  they  should  early  signalize  themselves, 
offered  a  reward  of  fifty  guineas  to  the  first  man  who 
should  plant  a  ladder  in  the  fosse  which  was  exposed  to 
the  fire  of  the  garrison.  Not  one  of  them  attempting  to 
advance,  the  count,  in  a  paroxysm  of  fury,  upbraided  them 
with  cowardice.  The  sergeant-major  proudly  replied, 
"  No,  sir,  we  are  not  cowards,  and  we  are  not  hirelings. 
If  your  honor  had  not  offered  us  money  for  the  service 
we  would  have  gone  forward  in  a  body."  The  count  was 
speechless:  he  was  asked  to  wave  his  hand;  the  men 
sent  up  a  shout,  sprang  forward  as  with  one  movement, 
and  out  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  only  ninety  of 
those  devoted  hearts  returned. 


216  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

On  reaching  Charleston  I  found  things  much  more  com 
fortable  than  I  had  expected,  the  day,  though  intolerably 
warm,  being  tempered  by  breezes  in  the  evening  which 
revived  one's  spirits  and  power  of  enjoyment.  Still  the 
theatre,  or  any  amusement  which  collected  a  multitude  at 
this  hot  season,  was  unacceptable,  for  either  the  giving  or 
receiving  of  "  entertainment "  was  felt  to  be  a  labor.  So 
ciety  here  appeared  to  be  a  curious  mixture  of  all  the 
human  complexions  which  had  ever  found  a  place  on  the 
earth's  broad  pattern-book,  from  the  jet-black  of  the  Afri 
can,  through  every  intermediate  stage  of  Creole  and  quad 
roon,  Spanish  olive,  Indian  red,  Mexican  brown,  and  every 
tint  of  cream-color,  to  the  clear  white  of  an  Englishman. 
As  the  proportion  was  not  in  favor  of  the  whites,  the 
city  had  a  foreign  look,  particularly  at  a  time  of  year 
when  only  a  dark  skin — the  favorite  of  the  sun — courted 
its  fervor;  and  at  parties  I  met  always  a  great  number 
of  yellow  girls,  daughters  of  Creole  mothers,  who  were 
among  the  prettiest  and  most  engaging  women  I  had  ever 
seen.  They  possessed  a  natural  taste  for  music  and  sing 
ing,  while  the  sparkle  of  their  faces  and  the  fulness  of 
their  forms  gave  great  fascination  to  their  dancing  and 
chattering.  They  seemed  like  slips  of  the  French  en 
grafted  upon  a  South  American  stock.  Turnbull,  an  act 
or,  who  saw  one  for  the  first  time  at  a  house  in  Charles 
ton,  was  so  impressed  by  the  dramatic  force  of  everything 
she  said  and  did  that  he  could  not  resist  getting  up  at  the 
end  of  one  of  her  vivacities,  and  saying  to  her,  in  a  tone 
of  great  earnestness,  "Madam,  did  you  never  think  of 
playing  Wowski  ?" 

The  citizens  I  found  to  be  of  much  the  same  order  as 
the  New-Yorkers,  entirely  divided  between  business  and 
pleasure.  They  breathed  neither  the  literary  atmosphere 
of  Philadelphia  and  Boston,  nor  the  political  one  of  Balti 
more.  They  seemed  a  world  in  themselves,  very  leisurely 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF   AMERICA.  217 

and  happily  taking  things  as  they  went,  and  twining  the 
locks  of  old  Time  as  though  their  hue  was  not  gray  but 
golden.  Of  course  my  own  reception  at  these  places  can 
afford  little  criterion.  Blessed  with  good  spirits  and  am 
ple  introductions,  I  was  sure  of  a  welcome  everywhere. 
But,  as  regarded  visitors  in  general,  I  should  say  that  the 
chief  difference  between  Northern  and  Southern  hospital 
ity  was  this — that  the  one  displayed  a  craving  for  new 
faces,  the  other  a  desire  never  to  part  with  any  that  had 
once  pleased  them. 

The  Charleston  people  claimed  to  possess  what  has 
formed  a  primary  element  in  the  greatest  minds — humor; 
and  a  society  existed  in  their  city  marked  by  an  original 
ity  in  scope  and  detail  not  to  be  surpassed  by  the  most 
brilliant  records  of  Europe.  It  was  called  "  The  Ugly 
Club,"  and  the  chain  of  reasoning  upon  which  it  was 
founded  was  as  follows :  "  All  nature's  works  are  beauti 
ful,  though  all  beauty  is  not  uniform.  Social  errors  only 
can  have  created  arbitrary  tastes.  It  is  man's  business, 
as  a  reasonable  being,  to  lead  back  his  fellow-creatures  to 
true  principles,  and  to  provide  for  his  own  comfort  and 
instruction  by  associating  in  companies  those  who  are 
similar."  In  accordance  with  this  philosophy  were  the 
various  particulars  in  the  club's  constitution.  The  first 
law  enacted  that  the  meeting  was  always  to  be  held  in 
the  most  ill-favored  apartment  in  the  ugliest  house  in 
Charleston;  the  windows  to  overlook  either  a  dock  or  a 
dung-heap;  the  floor  to  be  an  inclined  plane,  the  wains 
cot  a  rat-bed,  and  the  ceiling  a  sieve,  both  colored  bright 
red  or  yellow;  the  furniture  to  consist  merely  of  chairs 
and  tables,  rough -hewn  out  of  hickory  by  a  backwoods 
man;  and  a  Dutch  looking-glass,  so  full  of  veins  that  look 
who  would  into  it,  he  should  appear  a  libel  on  humanity. 
The  second  rule  explained  the  ground  of  admission,  which 
was  broad,  liberal,  and  explicit.  Any  man  pronounced  by 

10 


218  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

society  ugly — a  physiognomical  outcast — was  entitled  to 
become  a  member,  making  no  distinctions  as  to  creed  or 
country,  these  being  major  points  with  inferior  institu 
tions.  The  third  rule  enjoined  a  proselytizing  spirit, 
which  has  only  to  be  explained  to  prove  its  social  service. 
It  is  a  well-known  phenomenon  that  all  ugly  men  are  vain, 
the  probable  explanation  being  that  in  the  majority  of 
cases  they  are  so,  as  ignorant  men  are  knowing  ones:  it 
is  a  piece  of  mere  policy  to  show  indifference  to  the 
world's  ill-nature.  Nevertheless,  as  the  dignified  con 
sciousness  of  merit  is  more  to  be  desired  than  the  petty 
frivolities  of  display,  this  third  rule  enacted  that  all  van 
ity  in  the  members,  whether  enrolled  or  duly  qualified  to 
become  so,  was  to  be  utterly  rooted  out;  to  compass  which 
the  simplest  means  were  found  to  be  sufficient.  The 
cracked  Dutch  looking-glass  already  mentioned,  which 
hung  beside  the  chairman,  was  always  produced  whenever 
signs  of  flightiness  displayed  themselves,  and  proved  a 
never-failing  restorer  of  the  delinquent's  reason.  As  van 
ity,  therefore,  was  known  to  be  the  only  check  to  an  am 
ple  extension  of  the  society's  numbers,  the  social  good 
was  their  authority  to  seek  out  new  members  and  purify 
them  of  their  weakness.  Accordingly,  whenever  the  ar 
rival  of  a  qualified  candidate  was  buzzed  about  the  city, 
the  secretary  waited  upon  him  with  a  polite  invitation  to 
favor  the  society  with  his  company.  As  soon  as  he  had 
taken  his  seat  at  the  table,  and  the  rules  and  objects  of 
the  meeting  had  been  explained  to  him,  the  attack  was 
commenced  by  one  of  the  members  observing,  "  You  ap 
pear  to  have  a  very  long  nose,  sir."  His  consternation 
probably  produced  a  laugh,  but  its  sting  the  chairman 
qualified  by  remarking,  "Positively  long,  yet  moderate  in 
comparison;  for,  if  you  observe,  sir,  the  tip  of  mine  forms 
an  acute  angle  with  a  line  drawn  horizontally  from  my 
under  lip,  and  an  obtuse  one  with  my  chin;  though  acute 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  219 

angles,  I  beg  to  say,  without  incurring  the  charge  of  van 
ity,  have  never  been  considered  ugly,  from  the  days  of 
Euclid."  Another  member  now  broke  in,  "  I  should  say, 
sir,  that  your  mouth  is  not  deficient  in  capacity,  from  its 
semicircular  figure."  A  second  stare,  without  response 
from  the  party,  produced  a  denial  from  the  secretary,  who, 
opening  his  jaws  to  show  their  full  extent,  challenged  the 
visitor  to  pack  the  interior  of  his  orifice  with  as  many 
square  inches  of  bread  and  bacon.  Another  critic  would, 
perhaps,  then  inform  him  that  his  hair  was  of  that  pecul 
iar  hue  which  typifies  combustion,  when  a  friend  was  sure 
to  respond  that,  so  far  from  considering  their  guest's  hair 
fiery,  he,  as  the  owner  of  a  powder-mill,  should  not  enter 
tain  the  smallest  fear  of  an  accident,  were  the  gentleman 
to  walk  into  his  work-rooms. 

The  chairman  would  now  rise  and  beg  to  propose  him 
as  a  member.  If  he  proved  a  social,  sensible  fellow,  the 
utmost  hilarity  attended  his  initiation;  but  if,  on  the  con 
trary,  he  took  the  proposition  in  dudgeon,  the  looking- 
glass  was  produced  in  justification.  If  its  reflections  did 
not  eradicate  his  good  opinion  of  himself,  and  he  retreat 
ed  in  a  huff,  war  was  formally  declared,  and  plans  sug 
gested  to  drive  him  into  submission.  If  he  walked  abroad, 
he  was  sure  to  meet  a  member,  who  pointed  out  how  he 
abused  the  kindness  of  Providence  by  refusing  to  join  a 
meeting  instituted  for  mutual  protection  and  amusement, 
of  which  he  might  soon  attain  to  the  honor  of  becoming 
president.  If  he  stayed  at  home,  he  received  a  dozen  let 
ters  a  day  from  women  who  had  fallen  in  love  with  him, 
and  who  poured  forth  their  feelings  in  some  such  style  as 
the  following  : 

"  DEAR  SIR, — An  epoch  has  occurred  in  my  hitherto  virgin  existence.  I 
have  seen  you,  and  I  am  no  longer  what  I  was.  May  I  believe  the  whis 
perings  of  my  heart  that  we  are  destined  for  each  other,  from  the  numer 
ous  sympathies  of  our  persons.  Your  stature,  like  mine,  is  ambitious  and 


220         RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

genteelly  thin ;  your  legs  form  the  most  graceful  curve  I  have  ever  seen ; 
your  hands  have  such  an  amplitude  as  must  give  great  facility  in  grasp 
ing  ;  and  your  head  appears  large  enough  for  two  such  frames ;  but  it  is 
needed,  I  suppose,  for  the  quantity  of  its  furniture.  I  must  confess  I 
piqued  myself  upon  the  brilliance  of  my  hair,  till  I  saw  yours.  Now, 
alas,  mine  appears  but  as  the  sickly  flickerings  of  a  lamp ;  yours  the 
ruddy  glow  of  a  furnace.  On  one  point  only  you  have  respected  my  com 
placency — your  eyes.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  obliquity  of  mine 
has  given  me  through  life  a  singleness  of  perception  which  yours  could 
never  surpass,  though  I  admit  that  in  other  respects  yours,  being  of  the 
kind  termed  '  pig's,'  are  superior  to  mine,  which  are  named  after  a  poorer 
character, '  ferret's.'  Say,  then,  dear  youth,  with  all  these  affinities,  arc  we 
to  remain  asunder  ? 

"  Yours  till  death,  DINAH  PARAGON." 

Upon  the  perusal  of  this,  if  the  victim  lost  his  com 
posure  so  far  as  to  deliver  a  few  epithets  on  ugly  clubs, 
ugly  women,  and  all  such  conspirators  against  a  man's 
peace,  ten  to  one  the  president  of  the  society  introduced 
himself  the  next  moment  and  repeated  his  old  importuni 
ty,  "  My  dear  friend,  will  you  go  with  me  to  the  club  ? 
Why  do  you  try  to  resist  the  finger  of  destiny  ?  Do  you 
know  what  enjoyments  you  are  casting  from  you,  wThat 
sympathy  you  are  shutting  yourself  out  from  ?  If  you 
still  doubt  your  qualifications,  look  once  more  in  this 
glass."  "  Heaven's  will  be  done  !"  at  length  exclaimed 
the  persecuted  being,  his  vanity  thoroughly  expunged ; 
"  I  believe  I  am  an  ugly  devil,  and  it  is  the  finger  of  des 
tiny  that  I  should  belong  to  your  club  !" 

That  evil  ingredient  in  the  Southern  climate  which 
proved  so  destructive  to  foreigners  was,  the  dews — the 
condensed  exhalations  of  a  marshy  coast  which  nightly 
descended  upon  the  inhabitants.  The  term  dew,  as  we 
understand  it  in  English  poetry — a  pearly  liquid  that 
is  in  the  habit  of  going  to  bed  in  a  rosebud  —  by  no 
means  describes  "  the  curse  of  Carolina."  This  is  an  im- 
^Jprovement  on  the  Scotch  mist,  a  sort  of  half-breed  be- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  221 

tween  a  London  fog  and  a  Devonshire  shower;  which, 
like  the  evil  one,  introduced  itself  in  the  most  mild,  im 
perceptible  manner,  and  killed  before  it  could  be  grap 
pled  with.  Europeans  would  often  leave  heated  rooms 
in  the  summer,  with  coat  and  throat  open,  never  deem 
ing  that  on  a  clear,  starlight  night  the  pestilence  wras 
lying  in  w^ait  for  them.  Thus  exposed  a  man  would  walk 
home,  and  the  next  morning  find  fire  and  ice  playing  at 
bo-peep  in  all  his  bones.  Actors,  of  all  men,  however 
perfect  (occasionally)  on  the  stage,  have  never  affected 
this  peculiarity  in  their  domestic  economy;  consequently 
they  formed  a  good  proportion  of  the  number  who  paid 
the  price  of  inattention.  I  remember  it  was  my  lot, 
some  years  after  this,  when  recruiting  in  London  for  the 
Boston  Theatre,  to  engage  a  person  named  Hatton,  who, 
for  the  singular  felicity  with  which  he  embodied  charac 
ters  of  the  stamp  of  "Macheath's  Gang,"  enjoyed  the  repu 
tation  of  being  "  the  best  blackguard  on  the  stage."  Of 
how  he  could  act  this  part  off  the  boards  he  favored  me 
with  a  proof  in  his  first  performance,  by  embarking,  at 
the  bidding  of  a  rival  manager,  for  Charleston  instead  of 
Boston.  Though  warned  here  of  the  nature  of  the  night 
atmosphere,  he  had  the  temerity,  on  going  home  from  a 
carousal,  to  take  off  his  coat  and  waistcoat,  and  stretch 
himself  on  some  steps  to  study  the  solar  system.  An 
hour  afterwards  he  was  found  by  an  inhabitant  incapable 
of  moving;  in  the  morning  the  fever  was  busy  with  its 
victim;  and  by  the  night,  I  believe,  he  was  no  more. 

One  of  my  favorite  unsocial  amusements — fishing — I 
felt  shut  out  from  while  in  the  Carolinas,  where  yet  the 
opportunities  were  ample,  owing  to  two  other  Southern 
evils,  of  which  I  confess  I  could  never  subdue  my  appre 
hension — snakes  and  alligators.  These  were  such  insid 
ious  enemies,  and,  like  mine  Hostess  Quickly,  being  "nei 
ther  fish,  flesh,  nor  fowl,  a  man  knew  not  where  to  have 


222  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

them."  I  know  not  what  man,  indeed,  could  complacent 
ly  look  for  a  bite  from  the  water  while  expecting  one  from 
the  land.  If  the  chances  were  that  you  would  afford  sport 
rather  than  obtain  it,  there  seemed  to  me  an  end  of  the 
pleasure.  I  was  even  debarred  many  a  pleasant  walk 
through  the  woods,  where  there  was  cool  shade  and  a  soft 
breeze,  lest  I  should  light  upon  some  dark  tail  that  would 
suddenly  become  voluminous,  especially  as  I  was  informed 
that  these  reptiles  had  a  foreign  taste,  i.  e.,  preferred  white 
flesh  to  black — in  other  words  meat  not  so  much  roasted — 
a  fact  that  accounts  for  the  few  accidents  among  the  ne 
groes.  I  may  mention  that  the  Southern  reptile  was  not 
the  rattling  inhabitant  of  bushes,  but  a  burrower  in  the 
earth.  My  feelings  were  destined  to  be  confirmed  by  a 
scene  that  occurred  during  an  excursion  to  the  banks  of 
the  Congaree  River,  where  the  entire  bank  before  the 
tavern  that  I  dined  at  was  a  snake-bed.  The  ground, 
which  was  a  rich,  black  loam,  was  thoroughly  perforated 
with  the  avenues  of  these  interesting  insinuators,  and  was 
supposed  to  contain  a  thousand  families,  which  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  extirpate  but  by  digging  away 
their  territory.  Unaware  of  this,  and  seeing  some  negroes 
fishing  along  the  bank,  I  borrowed  a  rod  from  the  bar,  ob 
tained  directions  as  to  the  sport,  and  threw  in  by  the  side 
of  a  Caesar  who  had  strewed  the  ground  with  his  trophies; 
but  while  I  was  attaching  my  bait  and  looking  round,  I 
observed  the  head  of  a  snake  come  up  one  of  these  aper 
tures  and  survey  the  vivacity  of  the  fishes'  tails  with 
evident  interest.  I  instantly  mentioned  this  to  my  com 
panion,  but  he,  with  a  grin  at  my  alarm,  merely  called  to 
a  group  of  little  black  Cupids  who  were  running  about  in 
a  state  of  nature,  to  "  look  arter  de  snek,"  and  turned 
again  to  the  river.  The  juveniles  not  being  extra  vigilant, 
the  snake  ascended  again  to  his  trap-door,  coiled  out  of 
the  hole,  and  made  a  successful  dart  at  a  large  bass;  but 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  223 

the  weight  of  the  fish  was  so  great  he  was  not  able  to  re 
treat  with  it  before  one  of  his  little  black-guards  observed 
him,  and  with  a  cry  of  mixed  fright  and  frolic,  grasped 
the  fish  by  the  gills,  and  disputed  its  possession.  The 
snake,  however,  contrived  to  screw  his  tail  into  the  hole, 
and  upon  this  purchase  his  strength  proved  a  match  for 
his  antagonist's;  indeed,  for  the  moment  this  singular 
spectacle  lasted,  I  thought  he  had  the  advantage,  and  that 
ultimately  he  would  drag  off  both  boy  and  fish.  But  the 
little  fellow  had  a  noble  spirit,  and  clung  on  firmly  while 
he  cried  out  lustily;  the  fisherman  advanced  to  the  rescue, 
and  the  snake,  taking  a  timely  hint,  retreated.  AVhen  the 
tavern-keeper,  who  prided  himself  on  being  a  good  shot, 
learned  the  circumstance,  he  called  for  his  gun  and  re 
solved  to  watch  for  the  snake's  return  (which  was  a  sure 
thing)  to  see  with  what  neatness  he  could  divest  it  of  its 
head.  Our  eyes  were  now  converged  upon  the  hole,  and 
some  minutes  passed  in  fixed  attention,  but  with  no  re 
ward.  \\re  were  not  aware  of  the  enemy's  generalship. 
At  length  a  negro  hooked  a  fish  of  such  weight  he  was 
unable  to  draw  it  in,  and  called  out  for  assistance.  The 
tavern-keeper  laid  down  his  gun  and  ran  to  him,  when 
instantly  the  snake,  who  must  have  been  eying  him  un 
observed,  made  his  last  and  grand  sally,  darted  once  more 
on  his  prey,  and  triumphantly  carried  it  off,  amid  an  up 
roar  of  applause. 

The  fecundity  of  one  of  these  creatures  is  truly  alarm 
ing;  two  or  three  females,  in  the  course  of  a  summer,  would 
stock  a  plantation.  A  friend  of  mine  described  to  me  a 
very  startling  scene  which  occurred  to  him  during  a  ram 
ble  in  Georgia,  when  he  was  compelled  to  pass  most  of 
his  nights  in  the  overseers'  huts.  On  one  occasion  their 
black  had  gone  to  roost  on  his  shelf  (no  one  slept  on  the 
ground)  without  taking  the  precaution  to  fasten  the  door, 
and  during  the  night  a  pair  of  these  females,  who  were 


224  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

seeking  a  comfortable  nook  for  their  accouchement,  twisted 
in  through  the  crevice,  and  made  the  necessary  arrange 
ments.  In  the  morning  my  friend  happened  to  wake  first, 
and,  looking  down  from  his  hammock,  he  beheld  the  en 
tire  floor  of  the  hut  a  mass  of  black  life,  hundreds — as  it 
appeared  to  him — of  little  ones  were  curling  round  each 
other  and  over  their  parents  with  the  most  fond  facility. 
His  involuntary  cry  of  terror  woke  the  black,  who,  leaning 
over  his  board,  surveyed  their  pastime  wTith  the  greatest 
complacency.  A  thundering  epithet  from  the  overseer 
(luckily  for  them  at  that  moment  they  were  all  literally 
over-seers),  showing  that  he  had  detected  Sambo's  remiss- 
ness,  threw  the  latter  on  his  resources,  when  he  instantly 
put  his  fingers  in  his  mouth  and  made  a  noise  in  imitation 
of  the  rattlesnake,  which  wages  war  with  this  other  ser 
pent  tribe.  In  an  instant  the  alarmed  mothers  glided 
precipitately  out  of  the  hut,  followed  by  their  broods 
twining  after  them.  This  scene  proved  such  a  ludicrous 
contrast  to  the  first  that  my  friend  indulged  in  a  hearty 
laugh,  and  saved  the  black  from  his  superior's  anger. 

With  snakes  I  coupled  another  object  of  aversion — the 
alligators.  These,  however,  were  not  so  obtrusive  or  so 
terrible,  supporting  the  Buff  on  hypothesis  that  they  are 
a  degenerated  edition,  both  in  size  and  temper,  of  the 
Egyptian  crocodile.  They  were  only  to  be  found  on  the 
banks  of  particular  rivers,  leading  a  lazy,  luxurious  life, 
in  imitation,  as  it  were,  of  the  planters.  Once  and  once 
only,  through  a  telescope,  I  surveyed  one  who  was  enjoy 
ing  himself  in  a  manner  truly  Oriental,  stretched  upon  a 
couch  of  the  downiest  mud,  his  scales  glittering  like  pre 
cious  stones,  his  jaws  extended  to  receive  all  chance  con 
tributions  of  flies  and  insects.  He  was,  in  fact,  a  grand 
bashaw  of  one  tail,  little  energy,  and  ferocious  meanness. 
The  amusement,  for  instance,  of  extending  his  jaws  until 
his  tongue  was  spread  like  a  blister  with  Spanish  flies,  and 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  225 

then  suddenly  dropping  the  gates  upon  the  innocents,  was 
a  villainy  that  nothing  could  excuse.  He  must  have  found 
larger  substances  for  his  subsistences  though  cases  were, 
I  believe,  very  few  where  the  blacks  kept  his  digestive 
organs  in  order.  By  happy  observers  of  the  analogies 
which  the  earth  everywhere  furnishes  between  her  tribes, 
the  alligator,  from  the  length  of  his  jaw,  was  termed  "the 
river  lawyer." 

I  once  heard  a  narrative  of  the  successful  domestication 
of  an  alligator,  the  singularly  civilized  result  of  which 
may  supply  my  reader  with  some  new  ideas.  An  infant 
was  found  in  the  sedges  of  the  Wateree  River,  but  a  few 
days,  it  was  supposed,  after  its  birth,  and  conveyed  by  a 
negro  to  his  owner,  who  formed  the  extraordinary  reso 
lution  of  bringing  it  up,  and  observing  whether  it  would 
develop  its  destructive  propensities  under  a  systematic 
course  of  farm-yard  regimen.  To  his  great  delight  the 
meal-tub  won  the  victory.  The  taste  of  blood  being  the 
fount  of  brutality  in  savages  of  all  kinds,  when  this  ani 
mal  arrived  at  maturity  he  displayed  an  affability  towards 
his  owner,  and  a  propriety  of  deportment  towards  the 
ducks  and  hens,  which  amply  repaid  the  planter's  care 
and  trouble  in  his  education.  Nothing  could  be  more 
sociable  than  the  mode  in  which  he  waddled  amidst  the 
group  at  feeding-time,  admitting  them,  in  fact,  to  the 
most  marked  familiarity,  even  while  enjoying  his  siesta 
in  the  slush,  constituting  his  back  a  committee-room  for 
the  feathered  tribe,  and  opening  his  jaws  for  the  little 
porkers  to  rub  themselves  against.  His  appearance  at 
these  times  spoke  a  volume  in  disproof  of  his  natural  fe 
rocity  ;  his  whole  frame  seemed  instinct  with  a  spirit  of 
benevolent  enjoyment;  his  eyes  emitted  a  humid  sparkle; 
and  his  open  countenance  was  arrayed  in  a  broad  grin — 
the  heart  was  liberal  though  the  hide  was  scaly.  But  the 
most  extraordinary  circumstance  of  his  history,  inasmuch 

10* 


226  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

as  it  proved  that  female  influence,  with  brutes  of  all  kinds, 
is  the  highest  agent  of  refinement,  was  his  forming  a  Pla 
tonic  attachment  to  a  sow  which  daily  partook  with  him 
the  tranquillizing  pleasures  of  the  tepid  slush.  Similarity 
of  tastes  and  habits  are  known  to  give  rise  to  esteem  and 
liking  in  all  bosoms.  In  this  case  the  fact  was  manifested 
by  the  most  touching  evidences.  He  regularly  chaperoned 
her  in  her  daily  walk  from  the  sty  to  the  barn,  varied  occa 
sionally  by  a  saunter  in  the  swamp  adjacent;  secured  her 
one  of  the  best  places  at  the  trough;  and  even  brought  her 
tid-bits  of  fried  turkey  and  codfish  from  the  planter's  hand. 

When  it  at  last  pleased  the  planter  to  deprive  this  esti 
mable  female  of  existence,  the  blow  to  her  friend's  peace 
was  instantaneous  and  decisive.  He  felt  his  sweetest  tie 
sundered,  and  became  a  solitary  being  in  the  world.  The 
boar,  like  most  husbands,  bore  his  loss  with  patience;  but 
the  friend  who  had  reposed  with  her  through  so  many 
hours  in  a  congenial  element,  exchanging  grunts,  and 
reciprocating  rubbings,  was  not  to  be  consoled.  He  ran 
into  an  extreme  greater  even  than  that  of  his  own  head 
and  tail,  and,  becoming  a  recluse,  he  pined  away,  appeared 
to  grow  longer  from  longing,  and  at  length  was  found 
dead  in  the  old  scene  of  their  pleasures.  On  being  opened, 
within  him  were  found  the  remains  of  one  of  the  porkers, 
which,  as  a  last  memorial  of  his  love,  he  had  consigned  to 
the  seat  of  his  most  inward  feelings.  This  well-authenti 
cated  memoir  opens  a  new  chapter  in  zoology.  Evidently 
more  analogy  subsists  between  the  various  classes  of  crea 
tion  than  is  commonly  supposed.  One  thing  is  evident, 
that  if  human  beings  can  so  often  descend  to  become 
brutes,  it  is  but  fair  that  the  feelings  of  brutes  should 
now  and  then  ascend  to  rank  with  those  of  human  beings. 

During  my  stay  in  the  Carolinas  I  was  favored  with 
extended  observations  of  the  humor  of  my  radiant  favor 
ites,  the  blacks,  whose  spirits,  ever  lighting  tip  their  shade, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  227 

reminded  me  of  the  merry  grave-digger  in  Hamlet.  I 
never  could  determine  whether  the  happiest  display  of 
their  faculty  was  in  their  power  of  repartee  and  apt  dis 
covery  of  anologies,  or  in  a  simplicity  that  contained  its 
own  inherent  stock  of  the  ludicrous.  I  must  add  some 
specimens  of  both. 

An  old  negro  in  Charleston,  named  Harry,  made  it  a 
practice  to  go  a-begging,  on  holidays,  among  the  gentry. 
Meeting  a  Mr.  Nicholas  Brown,  a  usual  patron,  but  who 
happened  that  morning  to  be  out  of  temper,  he  accosted 
him  with,  "  Good-mornin',  massa,  me  wish  a  melly  Clis- 
mas;  please  to  gib  poor  ole  nigger  suspence  dis  mornin'." 
Mr.  Nicholas,  pretending  not  to  know  him,  replied,  with 
some  sternness,  "  Who  are  you  ?"  "  Massa  no  know  me  ?" 
he  exclaimed;  "my  name  Harry;  little  boy  call  me  ole 
Harry."  "They  call  the  devil  old  Harry,"  growled  the 
gentleman.  "  Iss,  massa,"  was  the  immediate  rejoinder, 
"  sometime  ole  Harry,  sometime  ole  Nick !" 

Another  of  the  tribe  was  once  brought  before  a  magis 
trate  for  thieving.  The  protector  of  the  public  morals, 
sternly  eying  the  delinquent,  inquired,  "  You  black  ras 
cal,  do  you  know  how  to  read?"  "Iss,  massa,  a  little." 
"Well,  sir,  do  you  never  make  use  of  a  good  book?" 
"  Iss,  massa  ;  I  trop  my  razor  on  um  sometime  !" 

The  following  was  an  ingenious  and  only  too  truthfully 
stinging  defence.  A  free  negro,  being  strongly  suspected 
of  having  stolen  goods  in  his  possession,  was  taken  before 
a  magistrate  and  charged  with  the  offence.  The  fellow 
was  so  hardened  as  to  acknowledge  the  fact  and  add  to 
his  audacity  by  this  speech:  "Massa  Justiss,  me  know  me 
got  dem  ting  from  Tom  dere,  and  me  tink  Tom  teal  um, 
too;  but  what  a  dat?  dcy  be  only  a  pickaninny  corkscrew 
and  pickaninny  knife  ;  one  cost  suspence  and  tudder  shil- 
lin';  and  me  pay  Tom  honestly  for  um."  "A  pretty  story, 
truly,"  said  the  justice;  "you  knew  they  were  stolen,  yet 


228  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

you  allege  as  an  excuse  that  you  honestly  paid  for  them. 
I'll  teach  you  better  law  than  that,  Caesar.  Don't  you 
know  that  the  receiver  of  stolen  goods  is  as  bad  as  the 
thief?  You  must  be  whipped,  you  black  rascal !"  "Ber 
ry  well,  massa,  if  the  black  rascal  be  whip  for  buying 
stolen  goods,  me  hope  de  white  rascal  be  whip,  too,  for 
doin'  same  ting  when  massa  catch  him."  "To  be  sure  he 
shall,"  rejoined  the  justice;  "I  myself  will  see  the  pun 
ishment  inflicted."  "Well,  den,  here  be  Tom's  massa; 
hole  him  fast,  cons'able  !  he  buy  Tom  as  me  buy  picka 
ninny  knife  and  corkscrew ;  he  know  berry  well  dat  Tom 
be  stole  from  him  poor  fader  and  modder;  now  knife  and 
corkscrew  hab  neider  !"  Whether  it  was  that  his  worship 
was  a  buyer  of  pickaninny  blacks  as  well  as  Tom's  mas 
ter  I  know  not,  but  this  home-thrust  unsettled  the  com 
posure  of  both,  and,  after  a  few  minutes'  deliberation,  the 
charge  was  dismissed. 

An  equally  direct  hint  was  given,  during  the  war,  to  a 
Jamaica  planter  who  became  noted  for  stinting  his  slaves 
to  the  least  possible  allowance  of  herrings  and  meal,  on 
the  pretext  that  all  the  provision-vessels  were  taken  by 
the  American  privateers.  This  answer  to  their  first  com 
plaint  sufficed,  but  on  its  frequent  repetition  the  slaves 
saw  through  it,  and  he  was  waited  on  by  a  deputation  of 
them,  who  informed  him  that, "  Since  probision  taken  ebery 
day  by  Amerriky  pribateer,  we  mean  to  take  de  sloop,  mas 
sa,  to-morrow  mornin'  and  go  to  Merryky  in  sarch  ob  it." 

On  my  return  to  Philadelphia  the  first  person  I  met  was 
my  Terpsichorean  friend  Byrne,  of  Covent  Garden,  who 
had  filled  up  his  summer  by  a  trip  to  the  West  Indies,  but 
had  returned  with  more  precipitancy  than  he  departed. 
As  this  visit  seemed  to  epitomize  a  hundred  others  made 
during  my  time  by  my  professional  brethren  to  the  land 
of  doubloons,  and  to  convey  a  useful  lesson  to  adventurers 
generally,  I  shall  briefly  describe  it. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  229 

Byrne,  a  most  worthy  as  well  as  talented  little  fellow, 
had  been  haunted,  ever  since  his  arrival  in  America,  by 
visions  of  the  new  Potosi  mines  to  be  found  in  the  pockets 
of  the  West  India  planters.  Whoever  had  been  to  the 
islands,  actors  or  traders,  had  painted  in  brighter  and 
brighter  colors  the  already  glowing  tints  of  that  glow 
ing  clime.  To  be  sure,  there  were  facilities  for  spending 
money  as  fast  as  you  got  it,  and  some  men  had  been  so 
delighted  with  the  society  that  they  made  up  their  minds 
to  die  there;  but  all  this  was  capable  of  being  explained 
away.  Fashionable  habits  had  been  in  fault,  or  arid  con 
stitutions  which,  to  become  genial,  required  perpetual 
soakings.  A  man  of  prudence,  thought  Byrne,  could  con 
trive  to  steer  clear  of  these  quicksands,  and  thus  speedily 
allay  that  pecuniary  "yellow  fever"  which  had  led  him 
from  home.  Mrs.  B.  concurring  in  his  sentiments,  and 
longing  as  much  as  himself  to  get  back  to  England,  he 
had  her  consent  to  try  his  fortune  in  Jamaica. 

All  the  circumstances  of  his  voyage  tended  to  inspire 
him  with  confidence.  The  weather  was  delightful,  the 
sky  blue,  the  sea  green,  the  breeze  fair,  the  captain  anec- 
dotical,  the  crew  dramatic,  the  passengers  Philadelphic  ; 
nothing  disordered  their  minds  or  their  stomachs;  and  a 
general  theme  of  praise  was  the  island  he  was  going  to. 
Byrne  was,  therefore,  emboldened  to  believe  this  one  of 
the  most  auspicious  steps  he  had  yet  taken,  and  he  felt 
himself  about  to  dance  into  a  sublunary  Elysium,  surpass 
ing  in  splendor  any  that  had  been  got  up  on  London 
boards.  As  he  sailed  into  the  port  of  Kingston  the  calm 
deepened,  the  illusion  rose;  a  smile  of  beauty  invested 
every  object,  and  told  of  wealth,  activity,  and  enjoyment. 
Byrne  pirouetted  upon  the  deck,  cast  off  his  partners 
gracefully,  sprang  on  the  wharf  vigorously,  and  chasseyed 
up  the  street.  The  first  vehicle  that  he  met  was  a  hearse. 
This  did  not  surprise  him,  as  he  was  aware  that  death  is 


230  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

a  peculiarity  of  every  country;  but  he  had  scarcely  turned 
the  corner  leading  to  the  hotel  when  he  met  another.  That 
appeared  strange,  but  he  was  in  no  humor  to  investigate 
grave  affairs,  so  he  kept  on  his  pace,  and  in  another  twenty 
yards,  lo,  a  third  !  He  now  made  a  stop  and  pondered. 
Devilish  odd,  he  thought,  that  the  only  carriages  he  had 
yet  encountered  were  the  last  ones  people  chose  to  ride  in! 
Superstitious  folks  would  have  fallen  to  auguring !  But 
a  solution  of  the  mystery  presented  itself  :  this  was  the 
way  to  the  public  cemetery,  and  it  was  nothing  more  than 
a  curious  coincidence  that  he  had  walked  up  the  street  at 
the  very  moment  that,  perhaps,  the  only  three  coffins  in 
Kingston  were  coining  down.  With  a  laugh  which  ex 
pressed  that  he  had  spent  too  much  time  in  the  air  to  be 
come  speedily  solid,  he  skipped  into  the  hotel  and  called 
for  some  refreshment.  As  no  newspaper  was  lying  at  hand, 
he  took  his  stand  at  the  window  of  the  public  parlor,  to 
amuse  himself  with  the  panorama  of  the  streets.  Having 
passed  through  the  region  of  business,  he  was  anxious  to 
obtain  a  view  of  Kingston  fashion — the  ladies  and  gentle 
men  in  their  carriages.  The  first  vehicle  that  passed  was 
another  hearse.  "  Odd  !"  exclaimed  Byrne,  "  that's  the 
fourth!"  but  before  he  had  time  to  arrange  his  ideas  for 

O 

any  further  speculation  a  fifth  presented  itself,  not  moving 
with  that  decorous  slowness  which  marks  its  pace  in  Eu 
rope,  but  at  a  quick  walk  ;  and  this  was  succeeded  by 
another  and  another  on  an  improving  trot,  as  though  the 
conveniences  for  interment  in  the  city  were  not  half  suffi 
cient  to  meet  the  demand.  "  Good  heavens  !"  ejaculated 
Byrne,  gazing  at  them  as  Macbeth  did  at  the  spectres, 
"is  the  whole  country  dying?  there  must  have  been  a 
battle  or  an  earthquake  !"  and,  seizing  the  bell,  he  rang 
it  till  he  roused  a  very  corpulent  man  sleeping  in  one  cor 
ner  of  the  room,  but  whom  until  this  moment  he  had  not 
perceived.  "What's  the  matter,  sir?"  inquired  the  stran- 


RETROSPECTIONS    OF  AMERICA.  231 

ger,  "arc  you  ill?"  "No,  sir,"  said  Byrne,  "but  I've  no 
doubt  I  soon  shall  be.  I  have  just  arrived  in  Kingston, 
and  I  have  seen  nothing  in  the  street  but  hearses."  "  Oh, 
sir,"  replied  the  other,  "  if  you  are  surprised  at  that  you 
must  be  a  stranger.  When  you  have  been  here  as  long 
as  I  have  you  will  find  that  if  a  man  can  contrive  to  escape 
death,  the  climate  makes  this  a  living  grave.  I  am  an 
instance,  sir.  I  was  once  as  slim  a  figure  as  yourself,  but 
much  more  powerful.  I  lived  in  London  and  had  a  very 

good  income,  but  I  would  be  so  d d  avaricious  that  I 

must  come  to  the  West  Indies  to  make  my  fortune;  and 
what's  the  consequence  ?  In  less  than  two  years  I  have 
lost  my  health  and  every  friend  I  had  to  welcome  me. 
Look,  sir,"  he  continued,  his  voice  breaking  into  a  snivel, 
"  see  what  a  poor,  bloated  maggot  I  have  swelled  to ! 
What  good  is  my  money  to  me  now?"  Pausing  from 
excess  of  emotion,  he  looked  Byrne  full  in  the  face  and 
exclaimed,  "  Good  heavens  !  Byrne,  is  it  you  ?  Don't  you 
remember  me— Mat  Williams,  of  Drury  Lane  ?"  Byrne 
returned  his  stare  with  interest.  It  was,  indeed,  his  old 
friend,  Mat  Williams,  the  hale  and  handsome  singer  of 
Drury  Lane,  whom  he  now  beheld  transformed  into  a  bag 
of  bile,  yellow  and  big  enough  for  a  picture  of  Plutus  in 
the  dropsy.  The  story  and  its  illustration  struck  home. 
Byrne  was  speechless.  The  waiter  entering  next  mo 
ment,  he  could  just  articulate,  "What  have  I  to  pay?" 
then,  scarcely  pressing  his  old  friend's  hand,  or  stopping 
to  bid  him  farewell,  he  made  one  step  down-stairs,  took 
three  along  the  street,  cut  a  rapid  caper  round  the  corner, 
and  meeting  at  that  point  the  negro  who  had  charge  of 
his  portmanteau,  he  grasped  him  by  the  wool  of  his  head 
and  dragged  him  back  to  the  wharf.  There,  seeing  a  brig 
hauling  off  for  Baltimore,  he  hailed  her,  vaulted  on  board, 
and  only  recovered  speech  and  composure  when  he  saw  the 
woody  shore  of  the  island  growing  dim  in  the  distance. 


CHAPTER  X. 

1801  -  8.  —  Recollections  of  President  Jefferson  ;  his  Observations  in 
France;  Neckarand  Mirabeau;  the  Comte  deArtois;  Marie  Antoinette ; 
Jefferson's  Compliments;  his  Rencontre  with  a  Connecticut  Farmer; 
Parallel  with  John  Adams. — Peculiarities  of  Pennsylvania ;  Contrast  to 
Virginia. — German  Settlers ;  the  Veteran  Corps ;  a  Female  Recruit ; 
Gastronomic  Hessians. — Barbecuing  and  Bundling. — Marrying  in  Haste. 
— Periodical  Whitewashings. — A  "  Penn sylvan y  Hurricane."  —  Recol 
lections  of  Charles  Brockden  Brown  ;  his  Yvrritings ;  his  Character ;  his 
Drama  and  its  Fate. 

I  HAVE  already  mentioned  that  through  the  kindness  of 
General  Washington  I  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Jefferson, 
who  proved  one  of  my  sincerest,  though  not  most  fortu 
nate,  friends.  The  coupling  of  his  acquaintance  with  a 
speculation  involving  considerable  loss  and  chagrin  can 
not,  however,  prevent  my  recurring  to  the  period  with  a 
degree  of  pleasure  which  I  trust  may  prove  communicable 
to  the  reader.  In  all  the  chief  requisites  of  the  social 
character  Mr.  Jefferson  appeared  to  me  to  possess  few 
equals.  His  heart  was  warmed  with  a  love  for  the  whole 
human  race  ;  a  bonhomie  which  fixed  your  attention  the 
instant  he  spoke.  His  information  was  equally  polite 
and  profound,  and  his  conversational  powers  capable  of 
discussing  moral  questions  of  deepest  seriousness,  or  the 
lightest  themes  of  humor  and  fancy.  Nothing  could  be 
more  simple  than  his  reasonings,  nothing  more  picturesque 
and  pointed  than  his  descriptions.  On  all  abstract  sub 
jects  he  was  plainness  itself — a  veritable  Quaker  ;  but 
when  conveying  his  views  of  human  nature  through  their 
most  attractive  medium  —  anecdote  —  he  displayed  the 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  233 

grace  and  brilliance  of  a  courtier.  His  talents  may  sug 
gest  some  idea  of  his  manners.  Though,  like  taste  and 
beauty,  manners  have  no  general  standard,  so  that  refine 
ment  in  France  is  frivolity  in  Holland,  and  frankness  in 
Holland  is  boorishness  in  France,  the  citizen  of  the  world 
perceives  that  an  excess  of  artificiality  is  as  opposed  to 
human  happiness  as  utter  barbarity.  But  if  manners  be 
brought  to  the  one  test  of  general  consideration  for  oth 
ers,  my  good  friend,  the  President,  would  certainly  not 
have  been  judged  deficient  by  any  one.  To  a  just  balance 
of  qualities  his  residence  in  France  had  no  doubt  con 
tributed.  He  had  witnessed  an  extraordinary  contrast — 
the  extremes  of  society  under  a  polished  despotism  and  in 
a  young  republic — and  tracing  their  respective  effects  on 
the  national  welfare,  the  rooting  of  his  convictions  had 
led  to  the  branching  out  of  his  sympathies.  During  the 
many  pleasant  evenings  I  spent  in  his  society  at  "Wash 
ington  and  Philadelphia,  I  chiefly  attempted  to  draw  out 
his  observations  upon  the  period  he  had  passed  in  France, 
where  his  official  situation  placed  him  in  juxtaposition 
with  the  leading  characters  of  the  court,  as  well  as  most 
of  the  agents  of  the  Revolution.  Amid  this  group  he  was 
equally  intimate  with  Neckar  and  Mirabeau,  the  Due  de 
Lauzun,  and  the  Abbe  Sieyes.  Six  years  a  spectator  of 
the  gathering  of  that  tornado  which  began  in  tears  and 
ended  in  blood,  no  man  could  have  written  a  more  ani 
mated  account  of  the  organization  of  the  Tree  of  Liberty. 
Adams,  in  his  boyhood  (1755),  detected  its  first  shoots  in 
America  in  the  all-engrossing  interest  of  political  conver 
sations.  Jefferson  was  destined  to  witness  the  effect  of 
its  transplantation  to  Gallic  soil.  The  two  great  acces 
sories  of  the  French  Revolution  were  the  encyclopedists 
and  the  patriots,  the  latter  of  whom  returned  from  Amer 
ica  to  make  known  to  their  countrymen  the  enviable  con 
dition  of  a  people  whose  rights  were  respected.  As  their 


234  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

verbal  accounts  must  have  taken  a  wider  range  than  liter 
ary  teachings,  it  is  not  too  much  to  assume  that  these  pa 
triots  held  the  match  to  the  explosion,  and  that  Louis,  in 
extending  assistance  to  the  Americans,  provided  for  his 
own  dethronement.  As  Franklin  remarked  when  the  out 
break  was  announced  to  him,  "Ah,  they  served  their  ap 
prenticeship  in  America,  and  now  they  mean  to  set  up  for 
themselves."  With  truer  instinct  Frederick  the  Great, 
when  solicited  to  afford  assistance  to  the  Americans,  re 
plied,  "No,  a  king  I  was  born,  and  a  king  I  will  remain; 
it  is  too  much  of  you  to  require  a  man  to  ruin  his  own 
trade." 

Mr.  Jefferson  supported  the  above  supposition  by  point 
ing  out  a  chain  of  sequences  among  the  most  striking  in 
modern  history.  "America,"  said  he,  "the  child  of  the 
Old  World,  appears  destined  to  become  its  teacher.  Like 
the  heart  in  the  human  system,  it  has  received  and  sent 
back  purified  the  diseased  opinions  of  England  and  France. 
Those  countries  have  fought  for  its  possession  in  the  true 
spirit  of  despotism,  and  have  been  foiled  because  the  lamb 
grew  up,  during  the  contest,  into  a  lion.  We  see,  in  the 
first  instance,  English  exiles  in  the  cause  of  freedom  set 
tling  America  and  impregnating  its  moral  atmosphere. 
Then  France  rearing  her  standard  on  the  walls  of  Quebec, 
and  gradually  extending  her  possessions  along  the  margin 
of  the  Lakes  to  the  Ohio,  and  thence  onward  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  giant  design  of  spanning  the 
continent  from  the  Arctic  Ocean  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico; 
England,  rising  up  at  the  cry  of  the  colonies,  fought 
through  that  arduous  war  which  sealed  the  submission  of 
France  with  the  blood  of  Wolfe;  but  after  that,  inflated 
with  her  triumph,  we  see  her  next  turning  round  and  tax 
ing  these  very  colonists  to  discharge  the  burden  belonging 
to  other  possessions  ;  the  colonies  resisting;  and  France, 
in  the  hope  of  recovering  Canada,  sending  them  assist- 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  235 

ance;  the  independence  following,  and  the  Frenchmen 
returning  home  to  achieve  the  liberation  of  their  own 
country.  To  conclude,  England,  placed  between  the  fires 
of  two  revolutions,  and  not  less  admonished  by  the  lurid 
excesses  of  the  one  than  invited  by  the  calm  and  benign 
glow  of  the  other,  to  provide  for  the  general  happiness 
of  her  people,  is  working  out  English  freedom  on  the  pat 
tern  of  American  independence." 

Mr.  Jefferson  said  he  had  perceived  at  an  early  period 
that  ISTeckar  and  Mirabeau  were  two  of  the  most  impor 
tant  persons  in  France.  Of  both  it  was  impossible  to  cal 
culate  whether  they  would  save  the  country  from  a  con 
vulsion  or  throw  it  into  one.  They  frequently  met,  and 
on  the  most  sociable  terms,  but  their  manners  in  company 
presented  a  curious  contrast.  The  financier  always  began 
the  evening  with  great  spirit,  and  talked  animatedly  upon 
all  subjects  till  about  nine  o'clock,  when  a  shadow  stole 
over  his  countenance  and  he  sank  into  silence,  absorbed 
in  public  considerations  only  temporarily  put  aside.  The 
count  always  sat  down  under  a  cloud  and  brooded,  until 
the  wine  dissipated  his  vapors  and  warmed  him  into  life. 
For  an  hour  or  two  he  was  then  a  most  agreeable  com 
panion.  He  poured  out  information,  poetry,  and  anecdote, 
and  flashed  his  sarcasm  right  and  left  with  the  edge  and 
polish  of  a  true  Damascene.  But  he  drank  furiously,  and, 
as  the  wine  heated  him,  his  ruling  interest  regained  its 
sway,  and  his  hilarity  rose  into  a  species  of  madness.  His 
eye  dilated,  his  voice  choked,  he  shook  his  black  hair 
wildly  about  his  face,  burst  into  political  prophecies,  and 
struck  the  table  until  the  glasses  rang  by  way  of  empha 
sis,  recalling  the  image  of  the  Sibyl  during  the  throes  of 
inspiration.  In  a  short  time  he  had  reached  the  pinnacle 
of  his  social  glory — his  antagonists  had  deserted  the  table, 
or  he  was  lying  under  it. 

The  popularity  of  this  glittering  monster  to  whom  lib- 


236  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

erty  meant  license,  and  power  pay,  whose  life  was  passed 
in  a  state  of  moral  drunkenness,  proves  that  his  talents 
must  have  been  very  extraordinary,  or  that  the  people 
were  indeed  destitute  and  desperate.  In  America,  where 
virtue  was  its  own  reward,  there  had  been  no  Mirabeaus 
in  principle,  save  Arnold.  The  test  of  patriotism  was  there 
too  primitive.  And  yet  the  count  had  the  complacency 
to  hint  to  Mr.  Jefferson  that  if  France  was  destined  to 
become  another  America,  the  world  should  see  that  there 
was  another  Washington,  to  which  the  latter  replied,  with 
polite  ambiguity,  "  Pardon  me,  count,  but  I  consider  such 
is  the  striking  originality  of  your  character,  you  would 
disdain  to  imitate  any  man." 

"Nor  was  it  with  the  populace  only  that  Mirabeau  had 
influence;  he  was  also  the  idol  of  the  women.  Why?  Al 
though  the  ugliest  man  in  Europe,  his  popularity  solves 
the  mystery.  Conquest  with  one  sex  led  necessarily  to 
submission  from  the  other.  At  a  convivial  party  he  once 
remarked  to  his  companions,  "  They  say  abroad  '  Mirabeau 
must  have  a  great  mind,  for  the  women  love  him  though 
he  is  as  ugly  as  the  devil.' "  As  no  one  answered,  he  con 
tinued,  taking  a  pinch  of  snuff,  "It's  very  true.  I  and 
the  devil  have  always  been  their  favorites." 

Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  wonder  at  the  shadow  on  Baron 
Neckar's  countenance,  destined  as  he  was  to  resist  single- 
handed  the  erection  of  the  court  barricades,  and  to  see 
the  king  forwarding  by  every  indirect  means  the  object 
of  his  enemies.  A  reply  attributed  to  the  Comte  d'Artois 
well  exhibits  that  spirit  which  at  length  unsealed  the  foun 
tains  of  the  deluge.  On  the  baron  observing  to  him  the 
growing  necessity  of  relieving  in  some  measure  the  bur 
dens  of  the  people.  "My  good  friend,"  exclaimed  he, 
"the  people  are  not  the  only  sufferers;  we  at  court  have 
a  burden  much  more  difficult  to  get  rid  of."  "What  may 
that  be?"  " Our  time,"  was  the  reply. 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  237 

My  friend  quite  concurred  in  the  general  impression  as 
to  the  sympathetic  weakness  of  the  king  and  queen,  who, 
in  quiet  times,  would  have  slid  through  the  world  in  the 
fashionable  absence  of  all  sense  or  principle,  without  ex 
citing  praise  or  blame.  The  queen,  a  truly  affable  creat 
ure,  was  pleased  to  pay  him  particular  attention,  but,  as 
he  conceived,  more  as  a  curiosity  than  as  a  friend.  She 
was  always  wondering  how  it  was  possible  the  people  of 
America  could  be  happy  without  a  court,  and  at  length 
said  to  him,  "  Surely  your  great  deliverer  intends  to  cre 
ate  nobility  ?"  To  which  he  replied,"  Please  your  majesty, 
the  influence  of  your  own  is  so  powerful  that  it  is  the 
general  impression  we  can  do  without  them." 

Mr.  Jefferson  has  put  so  much  evidence  upon  record, 
both  of  his  varied  talents  and  his  social  excellence,  that  I 
feel  loath  to  intrude  too  many  recollections  ;  and  shall 
avail  myself,  therefore,  of  but  a  few  instances  which  came 
within  the  knowledge  of  myself  and  friends. 

While  he  was  in  Paris  a  young  man  waited  upon  him 
as  a  member  of  a  family  he  knew  in  Virginia,  and  by 
means  of  a  plausible  story  obtained  from  him  a  supply  of 
money.  On  his  return  home  he  mentioned  the  circum 
stance  to  his  friends,  and  discovered  it  was  a  gross  im 
posture.  But  the  news  did  not  cost  him  his  composure. 
"This  is  the  way,"  said  his  friend,  "in  which  generosity 
gets  soured;  but  I  wonder,  Mr.  J.,  that  you  gave  the 
money  so  easily  without  more  inquiry.  "  Now  I  think  of 
it,  I  wonder  myself,"  replied  the  latter,  "  but  that  it  is  so 
much  pleasanter  to  give  than  to  refuse" 

When  once  at  a  party  where  the  private  delinquencies 
of  a  well-known  individual  formed  the  subject  of  conver 
sation,  every  one  present  opened  in  full  cry  upon  the  un 
fortunate  buck,  except  Mr.  Jefferson,  whose  silence  was 
at  length  interpreted  as  a  disbelief  of  the  charges.  A 
friend  asked  him  the  question,  "  Surely  you  must  be  as 


238  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

well  aware  as  ourselves  that  these  are  the  facts  ?"  "  Un 
doubtedly,"  he  replied,  "  only  I  can't  see  how  my  calling 
the  man  a  rascal  will  help  to  reclaim  him." 

He  was  strikingly  happy  in  illustrations  which  brought 
the  fullest  amount  of  argument  into  the  smallest  compass. 
When  a  once-applauding  public  expatriated  Dr.  Priestley 
in  his  old  age,  Mr.  J.  remarked,  "  His  antagonists  think 
they  have  quenched  his  opinions  by  sending  him  to  Amer 
ica,  just  as  the  pope  imagined  when  he  shut  up  Galileo  in 
prison  that  he  had  compelled  the  world  to  stand  still." 

His  regard  for  both  science  and  literature  was  founded 
on  this  just  view  of  their  respective  effects.  "  I  consider," 
said  he  to  me,  "  scientific  knowledge  to  be  that  food  which 
alone  can  enable  the  mental  functions  to  acquire  vigor 
and  activity;  but  elegant  literature  as  the  wine  that  should 
invariably  follow,  because  without  it  the  mind  would  never 
rise  to  the  full  measure  of  its  enjoyment,  the  power  of 
sympathizing  with  itself,  after  sympathizing  with  Nat 
ure." 

In  poetry  his  taste  was  thoroughly  orthodox ;  Shake 
speare  and  Pope,  he  said,  gave  him  the  perfection  of  imag 
ination  and  judgment,  both  displaying  more  knowledge  of 
the  human  heart — the  true  province  of  poetry — than  he 
could  elsewhere  find.  His  prose  favorites  were  Swift  and 
Bolingbroke.  Upon  the  utility  of  literature  he  made  an 
other  remark  that  pleased  me;  "I  was  bred,"  said  he,  "to 
the  law;  that  gave  me  a  view  of  the  dark  side  of  human 
ity.  Then  I  read  poetry  to  qualify  it  with  a  gaze  upon 
its  bright  side;  and  between  the  two  extremes  I  have  con 
trived  through  life  to  draw  the  due  medium.  And  so," 
he  continued,  "  substituting  history  and  biography  for  law, 
I  would  have  every  man  form  his  own  estimate  of  human 
nature,  because  it  seems  to  me  that  precisely  the  same 
directing  forces  should  subsist  in  the  social  as  in  the  solar 
system ;  there  should  be  the  same  attractive  or  concen- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  239 

trating  power  in  our  hearts  to  draw  us  together  qualifying 
the  repelling  impulse  which  we  gain  from  our  experience 
and  reading." 

With  specimens  of  his  humor  I  could  fill  pages.  Hear 
ing  from  the  profound  Dr.  Rush  that  he,  in  company  with 
a  well-known  wit  of  Philadelphia,  had  nearly  been  lost 
while  proceeding  in  a  packet  from  New  York  to  Balti 
more,  Mr.  J.  replied,  ""Well,  doctor,  such  a  fate  would 
have  suited  your  genius  precisely.  You,  you  know,  are 
always  for  going  to  the  bottom  of  things;  though  it  would 

have  been  inappropriate  for  our  friend  II ,  who  prefers 

skimming  the  surface." 

Of  a  piece  with  this  was  a  remark  upon  a  captain  of 
Virginia  militia,  who  had  once  been  a  waiter  at  a  tavern, 
and  who  was  so  heavy  a  sleeper  that,  on  training  days,  the 
company  were  compelled  to  discharge  a  volley  under  his  win 
dow  before  they  could  wake  him.  "  Ah,"  said  Jefferson, 
"  it  would  be  a  much  better  plan  if  you  were  to  ring  a  hand 
bell  under  his  window;  then,  I'll  be  bound,  he'd  at  once  pop 
cut  his  head  and  cry  i Coming!  coming.'" 

He  was  deservedly  a  favorite  with  the  ladies,  the  ele 
gance  of  his  compliments  affording  the  best  proof  of  his 
refinement.  They  had  the  veritable  odor  of  Versailles. 
A  lady  of  his  acquaintance  once  congratulated  herself  upon 
never  feeling  cold  in  the  depth  of  winter.  "  Go  where  I 
will,"  said  she,  "I  can  always  fancy  it's  summer."  "And 
whenever  you  come  under  my  roof,  madam,"  he  replied, 
"  I  partake  your  impression !"  On  another  occasion,  a  lady 
at  an  evening  party  called  his  attention  to  some  flowers 
in  her  bosom,  which  were  exotics  but  recently  imported. 
Jefferson,  admiring  them  greatly,  inquired  their  name. 
She  replied  by  giving  their  Linnaean  designation.  "  Dear 
me!"  said  he,  "I  thought  they  were  a  new  species  of  prim 
rose."  "  Primrose,  Mr.  Jefferson  ?"  "  Yes,  madam,  from 
the  snow  that's  so  near  them." 


240  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Perhaps  I  cannot  conclude  these  recollections  more 
pleasantly  than  by  relating  an  anecdote  of  himself,  which 
he  told  with  great  humor  as  having  occurred  shortly  after 
his  election  to  the  presidency.  He  was  riding  one  day  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Washington,  in  his  usual  plain  attire 
— a  black  suit  verging  on  brown — when,  from  a  cross-road, 
a  Connecticut  farmer  trotted  up  to  him,  and  immediate 
ly  displayed  his  provincial  spirit  of  barter  by  surveying 
the  president's  superior  steed,  and  asking  him  to  "  swap." 
Jefferson,  however,  asked  too  much  money  in  exchange, 
so,  after  a  fruitless  attempt  to  draw  him  into  a  commer 
cial  transaction  in  respect  to  the  saddle  and  bridle,  the 
stranger  began  to  favor  the  president  with  his  history. 
He  had  lately  quitted  "Down  East,"  and  was  coming  South 
to  "  explore  "  a  brother,  hid  away  somewhere  among  the 
niggers  in  Virginny.  He  was  anxious,  therefore,  to  ob 
tain  all  the  knowledge  he  could  of  the  country  and  the 
state  of  politics  in  parts  "  contagious  "  to  the  scat  of  gov 
ernment.  This  wish  led  directly  to  the  topic  of  the  new 
president,  Thomas  Jefferson,  who  had  been  elected  to  that 
dignity  in  direct  opposition  to  the  said  stranger's  advice. 
"  I,"  said  he,  "  support  John  Adams,  a  real  old  New-Eng- 
lander,  after  the  manner  of  our  forefathers,  the  Pilgrims 
of  Plymouth  Rock.  I  have  smallish  faith  in  these  chaps 
from  the  nigger  states,  upon  principle.  Doesn't  it  stand 
to  reason,  mister,  that  they  must  be  a  largish  bit  tyranni 
cal  ?"  Jefferson  attempted  some  refutation  of  the  charge, 
but  the  farmer  scarcely  listened  to  ten  words  before  he 
rejoined,  "  Come,  come,  mister,  I  guess  you  don't  see  the 
moral  sin  of  niggery;  but  it  ain't  only  that.  This  Thomas 
Jefferson — did  you  ever  see  him  ?"  The  president  nod 
ded.  "Well,  that's  more  luck  than  I've  had;  but  that 
doesn't  matter.  Now  I  hear  that  this  Thomas  Jefferson 
is  a  very  wasteful  chap  with  our  hard-earned  money " 
(Jefferson  stared),  "  and  you'll  allow,  mister,  that  that's 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  241 

unpatriotic  upon  principle.  They  tell  me  he  never  goes 
out  but  he's  got  clothes  on  his  back  that  would  sell  for 
a  plantation,  or  kiver  a  wagon-load  of  immigrants;  he's 
a  couple  of  watches  or  more,  that  he  never  thinks  of 
swapping;  rings  on  all  his  fingers;  and  a  frill  to  his  shirt 
big  enough  to  turn  a  windmill.  Now,  if  you've  seen  him, 
mister,  you  can  tell  me  if  that's  about  right."  Jefferson 
laughed,  and  replied  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  president 
was  seldom  better  dressed  than  himself  at  that  moment. 
The  farmer  had  his  prejudices,  and  shook  his  head  know 
ingly  as  he  continued,  "  Come,  come,  squire;  I  see  you  are 
a  small  measure  biassed.  I  guess  now  this  Jefferson's  a 
friend  of  your'n  ?"  The  president  confessed  it.  "  I  dare 
say  a  man  you  speak  to  when  you  please?"  Another  nod. 
"Perhaps  the  smallest  eend  of  a  relation?"  Nod  and 
laugh.  "  There,  now  !  I  guessed  it.  I  knew  you  could 
not  speak  the  truth  on  principle."  At  this  moment  they 
came  in  view  of  the  president's  house,  and  the  farmer  in 
quired  who  it  belonged  to.  As  soon  as  he  received  the 
intelligence  he  burst  into  one  of  those  conventional  sub 
stitutes  for  oaths  which  emphasize  the  language  of  the 
Northern  lower  orders.  "  Well,  now,  may  I  be  'tarnally 
starved  down  for  mutton  broth,  if  that  sight  doesn't  come 
over  a  man  like  a  suspension  of  the  works  of  natur'.  Now, 
mister,  doesn't  that  prove  my  words,  awfully  strong  ? 
There's  a  house  as  big  as  Noah's  ark?  At  the  smallest 
count,  there's  thirty  rooms  in  it.  What  can  any  careful 
chap,  'pon  principle,  want  with  more  than  six  ?  I  ha'n't 
got  more  than  four.  I  say  this  Jefferson's  wasting  the 
people's  money,  and  Congress  is  winking  at  it,  and  I  guess 
it's  all  naked  truth  about  the  frill  and  watches;  and  I 
ain't  afraid  to  affirm  that  it's  my  guess  the  inside  of 
that  house  shows  just  as  much  wastefulness  as  Jefferson 
a-horseback."  To  this  charge  the  president  could  make 
but  one  reply — an  offer  to  introduce  the  farmer  to  the 

11 


242  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

mansion,  and  give  him  ocular  conviction.  The  latter 
readily  consented,  and  they  rode  on,  Jefferson  planning 
an  elaborate  lesson  of  reproof  to  his  calumniator.  But, 
as  they  approached  the  gate,  some  gentlemen,  who  were 
engaged  to  dine  with  him,  stepped  forward  and  exclaimed, 
"Good-morning,  president;  you  have  had  a  fine  day." 
At  the  word  "president"  the  farmer,  who  was  trotting 
on  briskly,  drew  up  so  short  he  was  near  flying  over  his 
steed's  ears.  He  turned  and  stared  at  Jefferson  with  a 
mixture  of  curiosity  and  alarm,  which  drew  from  the  lat 
ter  a  quiet  smile  of  enjoyment.  In  another  instant  he  had 
struck  his  spurs  into  his  horse  and  was  flying  away  like  a 
whirlwind,  fully  convinced  that  he  should  in  some  way 
pay  for  his  temerity.  "  Hallo,  friend !"  shouted  Jefferson, 
"won't  you  go  over  the  house?"  "  ISTo,  thank  ye,  presi 
dent,"  was  the  reply;  "  I'll  look  in  when  I  come  back." 

Those  who  consider  that  the  chief  magistracy  is  a  dig 
nity  which,  to  obtain  its  due  respect,  should  be  secluded 
from  the  common  gaze,  must  admit  that  here  was  a  proof 
of  the  benefit  of  its  exhibition.  This  farmer  echoed  the 
opinions  of  many  upon  the  president's  character,  and,  in 
the  only  way  that  could  have  satisfied  him,  his  suspicions 
were  refuted. 

Strikingly  singular  was  the  series  of  coincidences  which 
made  the  destiny  of  Jefferson  and  of  John  Adams  a  par 
allel.  Both,  bred  to  the  law  and  skilled  in  their  profession, 
were  early  advocates,  by  speech  and  pen,  of  the  colonial 
rights.  Both  went  as  delegates  to  the  first  Congress;  to 
gether  they  voted  for  independence;  were  members  of  the 
committee  to  frame  the  "  Declaration,"  and  formed  the 
sub-committee  to  prepare  the  draught.  Both  served  their 
country  on  foreign  embassies;  both  became  vice-presidents 
and  presidents;  both  lived  to  see  the  fiftieth  anniver 
sary  of  the  freedom  they  had  accomplished,  and  both 
died  on  that  great  day  within  an  hour  of  each  other  ! 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  243 

Though  placed  at  the  head  of  contending  parties,  they 
were  firm  friends  in  private,  and  spent  the  evening  of 
their  days  in  the  exchange  of  the  best  sympathies  arising 
from  their  common  patriotism. 

I  have  mentioned  that,  though  Pennsylvania  was  the 
asylum  of  Quakers,  it  was  for  many  years  one  of  the  most 
factious  of  the  states,  owing  to  the  diversity  of  its  subse 
quent  population.  It,  however,  recovered  its  quietude 
through  the  large  infusion  of  German  occupants,  whose 
industry,  thought-fulness,  and  energy  grappled  successfully 
with  the  difficulties  of  its  stubborn  soil.  Much  of  the 
moral  difference  between  two  adjoining  states,  one  the 
most  dissipated,  the  other  the  most  industrious,  in  the 
Union,  was  to  be  traced  solely  to  their  great  geological 
contrast — that  whereas  in  Virginia  you  had  merely  to 
"  scratch  the  earth  and  it  would  yield  a  crop,"  in  Penn 
sylvania  deep  digging  and  manuring  were  required  to  ef 
fect  the  same  end.  Indeed,  it  was  a  remark  in  the  early 
times  that  the  inhabitant  of  the  former,  lazily  sponging  on 
the  blessings  of  Heaven,  resembled  Adam  in  Paradise  be 
fore  the  Fall;  while  his  hardworking  neighbor  seemed  to 
be  fulfilling  Adam's  penalty  after  it. 

Many  of  these  Germans  were  soldiers,  who  had  done 
efficient  duty  in  the  war;  indeed,  this  state  had  the  honor 
to  contribute  a  legion  whose  character  it  would  be  diffi 
cult  to  parallel  in  military  records.  They  were  called  the 
"Veteran  Corps"  —  eighty  German  soldiers,  who,  after 
serving  under  various  monarchs  of  Europe,  had  retired  to 
America  to  turn  their  swords  into  ploughshares;  but,  on 
the  first  outburst  of  hostilities,  voluntarily  formed  them 
selves  into  a  company  to  defend  the  land  which  had  re 
ceived  them.  Their  captain  was  nearly  one  hundred  years 
old;  he  had  been  a  soldier  seventy-five  years,  and  fought 
in  above  twenty  battles.  The  drummer  was  ninety-four; 
and  the  youngest  man  in  the  corps  little  under  seventy. 


244  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Such  a  band  might  well  have  been  called  the  Fathers  of 
the  Fight.  It  is  a  pleasing  fact  that  nearly  all  of  them 
survived  the  contest,  and,  their  last  service  having  sancti 
fied  all  former  ones,  sank  peacefully  to  rest. 

Another  singular  recruit  from  Pennsylvania  was  one 
Miss  Deborah  Gannet,  who,  throwing  off  all  maiden  deli 
cacy  and  timidity,  served  in  thu  Republican  ranks  under 
the  name  of  Robert  Shurtliff,  was  wounded,  yet  escaped 
discovery  of  her  sex;  and  at  length  received  her  discharge 
and  arrears  of  pay,  without  having  incurred  a  stain  on  her 
honor  in  public  or  private. 

The  Germans  mentioned  above  must  not  be  confused 
with  the  Hessians  who  came  over  in  the  English  service, 
to  be  surprised  at  Trenton,  and  to  turn  the  current  of  the 
war.  John  Bull  has  the  reputation  of  never  being  able  to 
fight  but  upon  a  bellyful  ;  John  Ox,  as  this  race  of  gas 
tronomes  might  be  called,  so  far  exceeded  him  that  they 
could  neither  fight  full  nor  empty.  A  corps  of  London 
aldermen  would  have  been  equally  efficient.  All  that  their 
tactics  proposed  to  give  a  dressing  to  were  —  dinners. 
True,  it  might  be  cited  as  an  amiable  feature  that  they  had 
not,  like  most  invaders,  a  savage  thirst  for  human  blood, 
seeing  they  preferred  drink  of  any  kind  whatever,  but  the 
nature  of  their  feats  may  claim  a  distinctive  niche  in  the 
gallery  of  Fame.  No  troops  were  ever  so  signalized  for 
the  arduous  routing  of  hen-roosts,  the  vigorous  beleaguer 
ing  of  pig-styes,  and  the  successful  sweeping  of  duck- 
ponds.  It  was  evident  that  they  considered  the  art  of 
war,  which  most  people  regard  as  a  short  avenue  to  death, 
a  new  chapter  in  the  art  of  living.  Had  their  private 
despatches  to  Germany  been  intercepted,  no  doubt  the 
Americans  would  have  found  them  to  contain,  instead  of 
political  hints,  valuable  recipes.  Thus  it  was  but  an 
appropriate  catastrophe  that  they  should  be  speedily 
dished.  Washington  had  but  administered  a  little  dex- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  245 

terous  carving,  and  a  few  forced -meat  balls,  when  a  succes 
sion  of  removes  led  to  a  general  desert. 

A  story  was  told  me  of  an  Irishman  in  the  Independent 
service  who  detected  a  pair  of  these  heroes  taking  captive 
a  pig  near  his  outpost,  and,  contriving  unobserved  to  pick 
up  their  guns,  suddenly  headed,  and  bade  them  turn  about 
to  his  own  camp.  His  pointed  manner  and  arms  had  the 
desired  effect;  they  released  the  pig,  and  proceeded  peace 
ably  to  the  enemy's  quarters,  doubtless  lamenting  the  loss 
of  their  prize  as  the  worst  feature  of  the  incident.  When 
the  general  asked  their  capturer  how  he  had  managed  to 
overpower  such  unequal  forces,  he  replied,  "By  the  pow 
ers,  sir,  I  surrounded  them." 

It  must  have  been  a  relation  of  this  person,  or  at  least  a 
countryman,  who,  during  an  engagement,  encountered  a 
man  of  war  among  the  Quakers,  one  of  the  party  who,  in 
fected  by  General  Greene's  example,  had  taken  up  arms, 
and  were  termed  "  Resisters."  The  Irishman,  surmising 
his  character  from  his  appearance,  shouted  as  he  advanced, 
"Come  on,  me  darlint;  here's  the  sword  that  Balaam  was 
going  to  kill  his  ass  with."  The  Quaker,  troubled  at  the 
inaccurate  quotation,  forgot  his  own  safety  to  correct  him, 
and  exclaimed,  "  Stay,  friend,  thou  art  wrong;  Balaam  had 
no  sword,  he  only  wished  for  one."  "  Well,  then,"  was  the 
rejoinder,  "here's  the  sword  he  wished  for,"  and  a  hearty 
thwack  brought  the  inimical  "Friend"  upon  his  knees. 

Pennsylvania  possessed  its  own  local  diversions  in  ad 
dition  to  many  imported  ones,  the  principal  being  barbe 
cuing  and  bundling.  The  first  was  a  feast  in  the  woods, 
upon  roasted  pigs,  a  sort  of  rough  gypsy  party,  in  which 
the  porkers  were  killed  and  dressed  by  the  men,  while  the 
ladies  made  a  circuit  to  obtain  spirits,  milk,  and  bread;  the 
meal  taking  place  on  some  favorable  clear  space  of  sward, 
and  winding  up  with  singing  and  dancing,  for  which  a 
band  of  black  Timotheii  were  always  in  attendance.  As 


246  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

the  fun  of  these  meetings  depended  much  more  on  the 
spirits  of  the  party  than  the  mode  of  the  diversion,  little 
can  be  said  of  them  beyond  that  the  material  of  the  feast — 
the  pork — supplied  some  wags  with  a  jest  against  the  chil 
dren  of  Israel,  who  were,  at  one  time,  scattered  in  some 
number  through  the  States.  Whenever  a  man  owed  one 
of  them  a  gum  which  he  was  not  prepared  to  pay,  the 
creditor  who  inquired  for  him  was  told,  "He  was  gone  to 
a  barbecue,  where  he  would  be  happy  to  give  a  seat  to  Mr. 
Moses." 

The  other  peculiar  institution  which,  with  more  liberal 
natures,  formed  a  feature  in  their  hospitality — the  bun 
dling — I  confess  I  regarded  with  as  much  pleasure  as  sur 
prise.  Offensive  as  it  may  appear  to  European  delicacy 
that  a  young  female  should  commit  herself  indiscriminate 
ly  to  the  same  couch  with  strangers,  merely  adopting  a 
precaution  which  in  any  refined  country  would  be  thought 
ridiculous — confining  her  petticoat  to  her  ankles — what 
did  it  prove  but  the  highest  purity  of  ideas,  and  the  ut 
most  faith  in  the  honor  of  the  weary  wanderer  who  sought 
shelter  from  storm  and  darkness  beneath  the  farmer's  roof, 
that  he  would  not  repay  the  obligation  by  attempting  any 
insult  to  his  child.  The  custom  was  in  the  first  instance 
a  matrimonial  ordeal,  and  was  most  likely  imported  from 
Wales,  where,  till  within  a  late  period,  two  lovers  previous 
to  their  marriage  were  consigned  to  the  same  bed  (the 
lady  in  a  kind  of  sack  which  fastened  round  the  throat), 
and  thus  enabled  to  discover  how  their  tempers  would 
agree  during  darkness  as  well  as  daylight.  Doubtless 
some  benefit  resulted  from  this  experiment,  or  a  resem 
blance  to  it  would  not  have  been  adopted  in  the  "Tarry 
ing"  of  the  precise  Ncw-Englanders,  and  the  "  Wooing- 
hut  "  of  the  Indians. 

The  expedition  with  which  marriages  were  knocked  up 
in  this  state  was  surprising,  owing  perhaps  to  an  overplus 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  247 

of  females  or  to  some  domesticating  influence  in  the  climate. 
No  sooner  did  a  young  man  with  any  means  of  support 
think  proper  to  pop  the  question  to  a  girl,  than  she,  de 
spising  all  coquetting  and  affectation  as  an  improper  waste 
of  time  and  feeling,  replied  with  a  frank  "  Yes  "  or  "No." 
In  cases,  however,  where  any  want  of  decision  was  be 
trayed  by  the  lady,  the  lover  always  displayed  a  propor 
tionate  increase  of  it,  as  the  following  instance  may  show. 
A  young  man  who  had  engaged  to  marry  a  girl  as  soon  as 
his  circumstances  would  permit,  through  a  sudden  turn  of 
fortune  resolved  one  Saturday  night  to  fulfil  his  word  in- 
stanter.  He  accordingly  set  off  in  a  sleigh,  for  it  was  in 
the  heart  of  winter,  with  two  companions,  to  Weaver 
Tavern,  near  the  Comestogoe,  where  he  ordered  supper, 
and  despatched  his  friends  to  fetch  the  damsel,  while  he 
went  to  procure  the  minister,  having  the  license  in  his 
pocket  all  prepared.  It  was  now  past  nine  o'clock,  and 
the  snow  falling  heavily.  In  about  an  hour  he  returned 
and  met  his  friends,  who  said  that  they  had  seen  his  be 
trothed,  but  she  had  entirely  forgotten  the  engagement, 
and  moreover  asserted  that  she  would  never  marry  any 
man  who  wouldn't  treat  her  to  a  "  sleighing."  The  bride 
groom,  not  a  whit  disconcerted,  replied,  "  Well,  she's  her 
own  woman,  and  I'm  my  own  man.  I've  come  out  for  a 
wife,  and  I'm  not  going  to  be  such  a  confounded  fool,  ar- 
ter  I've  ordered  this  supper,  as  to  go  back  without  one. 
There's  Miriam  Bush  likes  me  jest  as  well  as  she  does,  is 
jest  as  handy,  and,  I'll  bet  my  harness,  would  make  as  good 
a  helpmate.  So,  now,  I'll  tc41  you  what,  Mr.  Peascod" — 
addressing  the  minister — "  if  you'll  only  be  so  good  as  to 
wait  here  half  an  hour,  you  sha'n't  lose  your  job,  I  tell  ye. 
So,  boys,  jest  set  down,  order  something  strong,  and  keep 
supper  warm  till  I  get  back." 

All  the  parties  being  agreeable,  he  jumped  into  the  sleigh, 
though  it  was  now  pitch  dark,  near  midnight,  and  a  storm 


248  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

coming  down  that  shook  the  house,  laid  his  whip  round 
the  horses,  and  went  off  at  full  gallop,  to  the  residence  of 
a  maiden  whom  he  hoped  to  find  more  complying.  He 
caught  her  just  retiring  to  bed,  told  her  his  story,  showed 
her  the  license,  pointed  to  the  sleigh  in  the  yard,  and  with 
out  any  unmanly  grovelling  at  her  feet,  frankly  and  hon 
estly  asked  her  if  she'd  go  back  to  the  tavern  and  marry 
him.  A  girl's  pride,  on  being  applied  to  as  a  last  resource, 
was  not  unlikely  to  have  procured  an  instant  refusal.  It 
appeared,  however,  that  she  liked  him  well  enough  to  con 
sider  the  match  a  bargain  at  any  price;  a  moment's  pause 
— and  consent  glittered  in  her  eyes — a  genuine,  back-coun 
try  kiss  sealed  the  compact;  her  shawl  and  bonnet  were 
hastily  thrown  on,  he  lifted  her  into  the  sleigh,  and  tri 
umphantly  drove  back  to  his  companions,  defying  all  the 
efforts  of  the  elements  to  disappoint  him.  The  bride  was 
then  handed  to  the  minister;  her  name  introduced  into  the 
license,  their  hands  were  joined,  and  they  all  sat  down  to 
the  smoking  supper,  flavored  no  doubt  with  double  relish 
from  the  obstacles  that  had  delayed  it. 

One  of  the  local  peculiarities  of  Pennsylvania  was  the 
domestic  lustration,  or  whitewashing,  as  it  was  termed, 
which  the  action  of  the  atmosphere  on  the  wooden  houses, 
generating  dirt  and  insects  in  abundance,  rendered  neces 
sary  at  least  once  a  year,  but  which,  in  some  parts  of  the 
state,  was  multiplied  to  once  a  quarter,  and  formed  an  es 
tablished  recreation  of  the  ladies  and  purgatory  for  the 
men.  The  Dutch  women  had  certainly  the  strongest  pas 
sion  for  cleanliness,  but  that  was  in  a  modified  way,  a  mere 
scouring  of  floor  and  furniture.  Here  purification  implied 
totality,  requiring  superior  energy  and  judgment,  and  in 
flicting  greater  disturbance  and  inconvenience.  No  well- 
brought  up  wife  was  known  to  resign  a  privilege  which 
brought  so  much  pleasure,  whatever  might  be  the  sound 
condition  of  her  dwelling  or  the  infirm  condition  of  her 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  249 

spouse.  No  plea  of  asthma,  low  spirits,  or  even  the  pres 
ence  of  friends,  could  avert  the  dread  decree,  when  the 
period  had  arrived  and  the  word  went  forth,  "  We  must 
have  a  whitewash."  Some  husbands  were  enabled  to  bal 
ance  the  expense  of  these  periodical  cleanings  by  restrict 
ing  some  other  amusement,  but  few  succeeded  by  the  most 
tempting  offers  in  inducing  their  partners  to  forego  the  one 
in  question;  while  I  have  heard  of  some  ladies  who,  to 
guard  against  all  hazards,  stipulated  for  the  full  enjoy 
ment  of  this  privilege,  with  all  its  rights  and  appurte 
nances,  as  the  leading  article  in  the  marriage  compact. 

This  whitewashing  practice  also  prevailed  in  the  Jer 
seys,  which  were  settled  in  the  same  mode  as  Pennsyl 
vania,  though  presenting  a  great  contrast  to  each  other  in 
their  general  manners;  West  Jersey  modelled  itself  upon 
the  quieter  though  quainter  characteristics  of  Philadelphia, 
while  East  Jersey  displayed  the  commercial  spirit  of  New 
York. 

I  have  endeavored  to  point  out  the  natural  features  of 
each  state  which  had  any  influence  on  the  habits  of  the 
people  ;  as,  for  instance,  the  swamps  in  the  Carolinas, 
whose  exhalations,  requiring  correctives,  led  to  an  excess 
of  ingenuity  in  the  composition  of  those  seducers  termed 
"  antifogmatics."  In  Pennsylvania  it  struck  me  that 
there  were  some  appearances  in  the  country  people  which 
might,  perhaps,  be  traced  to  their  most  powerful  familiar 
— the  hurricane.  Not  that  there  was  anything  boisterous 
or  particularly  rapid  in  their  movements,  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  a  general  caution,  firmness,  and  tenacity  of  purpose, 
as  though  they  were  in  hourly  expectation  of  being  up 
rooted  from  the  spot  by  their  envious  visitant.  Every 
house,  barn,  and  pig-sty  was  built  with  a  solid  grasp  of 
earth,  and  every  man  or  woman,  on  issuing  abroad,  seemed 
to  fasten  coats  or  caps  in  due  array  for  a  struggle  to  retain 
them.  With  accounts  of  the  gambols  of  these  air-kings 

11* 


250  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

most  English  readers  are  familiar,  but  they  have  been  the 
object  of  as  much  exaggeration  as  Kentucky  rifle-shooting. 
A  "  Pennsylvany  hurricane,"  like  a  "  Caroliny  swamper," 
was,  indeed,  a  common  term,  nearer  home,  for  a  sublime 
Munchausenism — vulgarly  speaking,  a  long  lie.  I  cer 
tainly  myself  witnessed  the  feat  of  their  screwing  a  tree 
out  of  the  earth  like  a  cork  from  a  bottle;  but  I  believe 
the  story  of  their  carrying  a  hay-rick  to  market,  and  trans 
porting  a  team  of  oxen  from  one  farm  to  another,  to  be 
apocryphal.  These  were  jests  invented  by  the  editors  of 
newspapers  whenever  they  required  matter  for  a  corner; 
but  which,  appearing  in  England,  were  regarded  as  evi 
dences  of  the  national  veracity.  One  of  the  pleasantest 
of  these  inventions  was  in  allusion  to  the  rapidity  with 
which  a  settlement  was  run  up  in  the  back  states.  An 
Irish  emigrant  was  described  as  going  to  sleep  near  a  few 
log  huts  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  and  being  seized  by  a 
whirlwind  which  carried  him  off  and  deposited  him,  while 
he  slumbered,  in  the  streets  of  Philadelphia.  On  opening 
his  eyes  he  looked  round  in  amazement,  and  exclaimed, 
"  Well,  by  my  sowl !  I  had  heard  of  your  building  a 
wooden  town  in  a  day  ;  but  if  you  did  all  this  in  a  night, 
the  divil  himself  must  have  been  your  bricklayer's  la 
borer!" 

One  of  the  most  agreeable  acquaintances  I  formed  in 
Philadelphia  was  with  Charles  Brockden  Brown,  the  first, 
and  for  many  years  the  only,  novelist  America  had  pro 
duced.  Few  men  have  united  talent  and  worth  in  a  larger 
proportion,  or  been  more  marked  by  a  characteristic  which 
is  supposed  to  be  incompatible  with  the  pursuit  of  letters 
— equanimity.  In  a  powerful  mind  this  must  be  a  mental 
influence.  It  bespeaks  an  active  as  well  as  speculative 
life,  a  daily  observation  of  the  world's  admixture,  engen 
dering  contentment  with  its  best  and  respect  for  its  weak 
est  part.  It  is  the  fate  of  writers  who  seclude  themselves, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  251 

that,  carrying  a  high  standard  of  character  into  the  world, 
they  are  not  prepared  to  put  up  with  the  discovery  that 
they  have  deceived  themselves. 

Brown,  as  a  writer,  has  not  yet,  I  apprehend,  received 
his  full  share  of  praise.  It  is  true  he  formed  his  style 
upon  that  of  an  illustrious  modern  thinker — Mr.  Godwin; 
but  while  the  latter  owed  his  pervading  gloom  to  German 
study,  with  Brown  the  tinge  of  sadness  took  its  rise  in 
nature.  Mr.  Godwin's  genius  may  be  likened  to  a  her 
mit  reading  the  records  of  his  race  by  a  flickering  lamp 
in  the  solitary  ruins  of  an  old  abbey  or  castle;  Brown 
writes  as  though  seated  in  one  of  his  own  primeval  for 
ests,  with  the  twilight  falling  round  him  and  the  stars 
coming  out  to  watch  his  meditations.  Like  Mr.  Godwin, 
he  is  an  explorer  of  the  inner  world  of  man,  not  a  painter 
of  its  external  habits.  He  is  no  recorder  of  the  artificial 
conventionalities  which  mark  the  surface  of  human  con 
duct,  but  a  diver  into  its  depths  and  a  delineator  of  the 
sources,  not  the  results,  of  our  ruling  thoughts  and  feel 
ings.  In  doing  this  he  shows  less  elegance,  less  care,  less 
metaphysical  minuteness  and  logical  accuracy  than  his 
great  prototype.  He  cannot  so  steadily  lay  bare  the  quiv 
ering  flesh  and  trace  each  delicate  nerve  that  shrinks 
within  it,  nor  can  he  diversify  his  pages  with  the  same 
amount  of  learning,  but  the  story  he  writes  evolves  with 
more  simplicity,  flows  in  swifter  sentences,  and  takes  ad 
vantage  of  a  sustained  interest  in  the  reader's  mind  to 
press  its  moral  or  its  argument  with  greater  force.  Both 
these  writers  belong  to  a  class  addressing  but  a  narrow 
circle  of  admirers  at  present,  yet  they  must  rise  in  esti 
mation  as  taste  and  information  spread,  for  the  material 
they  work  in  is  permanent,  while  the  ephemeral  modes 
and  features  of  society  can  interest  only  those  who  behold 
them.  "Edgar  Huntly"  appears  to  me  to  be  one  of  his 
most  pleasing  productions;  the  story  and  character  of  Cli- 


252  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

thero  rivet  the  attention  from  beginning  to  end.  "Arthur 
Mervyn"  contains  the  most  powerful  descriptions  (the 
ravages  of  the  Plague,  etc.),  but  "  Wieland,"  taken  on  all 
points,  must  be  considered  his  chef  d'ceuvre. 

Brown  gave  very  little  idea  of  an  imaginative  writer 
in  his  appearance.  He  was  short  and  dumpy,  with  light 
eyes,  and  hair  inclining  to  be  sandy,  while  the  expression 
of  his  countenance  told  rather  of  ill-health  than  of  intel 
lect.  The  lines  on  his  brow  seemed  to  have  been  corroded 
by  consumption,  not  chiselled  by  midnight  meditations, 
and  this  was  partly  the  case.  A  weak  constitution  had 
been  his  parents'  legacy  to  him,  and  the  ebullitions  of  his 
spirit  proved  too  powerful  for  the  vessel  that  contained 
it.  Yet  vividly  in  his  countenance  glowed  the  light  of 
benevolence  ;  that  was  his  nature,  and  he  could  no  more 
have  suppressed  its  expression  than  he  could  have  kept 
his  eyes  closed. 

With  all  his  ill-health  and  straitened  circumstances,  for 
he  supported  himself  chiefly  by  his  pen,  Brown  enjoyed 
life,  and  could  be  a  very  cheerful  if  not  an  entertaining 
companion.  He  said  but  little,  but  he  had  a  ready  sym 
pathy  which  drew  out  clever  things  in  others,  so  that  I 
was  induced  to  remark  to  him  upon  his  difference  in  soci 
ety  from  the  sombreness  of  his  writings.  His  reply  struck 
me  as  being  curiously  illustrative.  "  I  am  conscious,"  said 
he,  "  of  a  double  mental  existence.  When  I  am  sufficient 
ly  excited  to  write,  all  my  ideas  flow  naturally  and  irre 
sistibly  through  the  medium  of  sympathies  which  steep 
them  in  shade,  though  the  feelings  they  bring  are  so  pleas 
ing  as  to  prevent  my  perceiving  it.  The  tone  of  my  works 
being  thus  the  necessary  result  of  the  advancement  of 
those  truths  or  discoveries  which  lead  me  to  composition, 
I  am  made  so  happy  by  it  for  the  time  as  to  be  ignorant 
of  its  real  effect  upon  my  reader.  This  I  term,  therefore, 
my  imaginative  being.  My  social  one  has  more  of  light 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  253 

than  darkness  upon  it,  because,  unless  I  could  carry  into 
society  the  excitement  which  makes  me  write,  I  could  not 
fall  into  its  feelings.  Perhaps,"  he  concluded,  "the  dif 
ference  of  the  two  may  be  thus  summed  up:  in  my  literary 
moods  I  am  aiming  at  making  the  world  something  better 
than  I  find  it;  in  my  social  ones  I  am  content  to  take  it  as 
it  is." 

The  false  impressions  that  we  form  of  the  labor  of  com 
position  from  different  styles  has  been  often  remarked, 
Johnson's  ponderous  sentences,  for  instance,  being  sup 
posed  to  be  the  result  of  protracted  care,  and  Rousseau's 
gush  of  language  the  pastime  of  a  natural  facility,  while 
the  very  reverse  of  this  was  the  fact:  Johnson  was  facile, 
Rousseau  laborious.  Thus,  swiftly  as  flows  the  language 
of  Brown,  it  contains  too  much  thought,  feeling,  and  pur 
pose  to  appear  to  have  been  written  as  easily  as  it  may 
be  read.  Yet  such  was  the  case.  He  told  me  that  when 
a  subject  presented  itself  to  him,  he  walked  about  fer 
menting  the  matter  in  his  mind  till  it  was  ready  to  be 
drawn  off.  He  then  sat  down,  and  all  the  material  came 
as  rapidly  as  he  could  write,  whether  it  were  argument  or 
description.  As  a  proof,  he  was  occupied  but  three  weeks 
upon  "Arthur  Mervyn,"  and  little  more  in  the  composi 
tion  of  "  Edgar  Iluntly." 

I  once  remarked  to  him  that  I  had  no  doubt  his  spirits 
had  been  soured  by  the  want  of  literary  taste  in  his  coun 
trymen  to  appreciate  his  writings  as  they  merited,  and  to 
give  that  stimulus  to  his  ambition  which  it  would  have 
received  had  he  lived  in  England.  He  replied  that  such 
had  been  the  case  in  some  measure,  yet,  sensible  as  he  waa 
that  a  love  of  fame  was  the  grand  impetus  to  distinction, 
writing,  with  him,  had  been  as  much  a  matter  of  neces 
sity  in  a  mental  as  a  bodily  aspect.  "As  soon,"  said  he, 
"  as  I  could  put  two  ideas  together  I  felt  a  craving  to  in 
vent,  which  required  certain  trains  of  thought  to  be  daily 


254  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

put  in  action  in  order  to  get  rid  of  a  surplus  of  daily  gen 
erated  ideas.  This  employment  was  just  as  necessary  to 
my  mind  as  sustenance  to  my  frame.  It  was  synonymous 
with  a  vital  function.  Fame  I  have  longed  for,  certainly; 
and  sympathy  from  my  friends,  much  more  than  from  the 
world;  but,  had  I  been  exiled  to  Kamschatka,  I  must  have 
written  as  a  mental  necessity,  and  in  it  have  still  found 
my  highest  enjoyment." 

It  is  not  known  to  the  countrymen  of  Brown  that  he 
was  once  induced  to  attempt  a  play.  Some  one  in  the 
course  of  a  conversation  upon  the  drama  had  said  to  him, 
"Brown,  why  don't  you  write  a  play?  you  could  easily 
get  it  acted."  The  suggestion  threw  him  upon  a  new 
field  of  reflection.  He  went  home,  considered  the  sub 
ject,  as  he  thought,  on  all  points,  fancied  that  he  felt  the 
power  or  knew  the  secret,  and,  a  subject  occurring  to  him, 
he  set  himself  to  work.  A  few  days  after  he  called  on  me 
with  a  manuscript.  "  Bernard,"  said  he,  "  I  am  going  to 
surprise  you.  I  have  written  two  acts  of  a  tragedy,  and 
I  wish  to  trespass  on  your  kindness  to  read  it  and  give 
me  privately  your  candid  opinion."  I  expressed  my  great 
pleasure  in  obliging  him.  "  But  mind,"  he  added,  "  I  re 
quire,  as  a  friend,  your  candid  opinion,  for  I  rely  entirely 
on  your  judgment  to  decide  whether  my  own  views  of  a 
drama  are  correct.  I  have  appended  to  the  second  act  the 
plot  of  the  other  three,  which  will  enable  you  to  perceive 
if  the  subject  is  possessed  of  dramatic  effect,  and  whether 
my  mode  of  treating  the  first  portion  warrants  my  com 
pleting  the  remainder.  Accordingly  I  devoted  that  even 
ing,  being  a  leisure  one,  to  its  perusal.  The  subject  was 
an  imaginary  incident  of  Egyptian  history,  the  interest 
turning  on  the  intellectual  sway  of  a  magician  over  a 
young  Persian,  and  the  attachment  of  the  latter  to  a  Greek 
girl,  who  attempted  to  combat  the  magician's  influence. 
Thus  between  the  powers  of  love  and  superstition,  the 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  255 

disciples  of  Art  and  of  Nature,  the  magician  and  the  girl, 
a  contest  ensued  which  terminated  with  the  triumph  of 
the  sorcerer  and  the  death  of  the  lovers.  In  this  work 
Brown  had  gone  into  all  his  usual  dissection  of  thoughts 
and  feelings,  but  without  any  regard  to  displaying  them 
by  situations,  or  appeals  to  the  feelings  through  the  eye, 
the  necessary  auxiliary  in  supporting  stage  interest,  which 
must  otherwise  be  wholly  mental,  or  dependent  upon  the 
ear.  He  was  evidently  ignorant  of  the  secret  that  in  thea 
tres  the  most  refined  minds  are  in  a  state  of  so  much  higher 
excitement  than  at  home  that  they  require  the  story  to 
be  told  with  tenfold  rapidity,  and  therefore  to  be  con 
densed  into  its  most  quintessential  elements.  At  all  events 
his  design  was  only  fit  for  the  closet,  and  even  there,  I 
think,  would  have  looked  like  a  metaphysical  inquiry  ham 
pered  with  the  unnecessary  restrictions  of  being  divided 
into  scenes  and  written  in  verse.  When  he  called  on  me 
again  I  gave  the  above  as  my  candid  opinion,  but  begged 
he  would  obtain  that  of  other  friends,  as  I  made  no  pre 
tensions,  even  in  stage  matters,  to  infallibility.  My  rea 
sons,  however,  sufficed  to  determine  him.  He  said  it  was 
but  an  experiment,  and  he  should  burn  the  manuscript 
as  soon  as  he  went  home.  I  observed  that  I  doubted  his 
resolution  to  do  that,  knowing  that  the  destruction  of 
one's  offspring,  human  or  literary,  was  equally  an  outrage 
to  the  feelings.  He  smiled,  put  away  the  doomed  one, 
shook  my  hand,  and  departed.  A  few  days  afterwards  I 
invited  him  to  dinner,  when,  as  he  was  leaning  against  the 
mantelpiece,  he  extended  his  snuffbox  to  me.  Opening 
it,  I  perceived  that  it  was  filled  with  some  black  dust  or 
tinder.  "What's  that?"  said  I.  "The  remains  of  my 
tragedy,"  he  replied,  "  which  I  carefully  preserved  after 
its  combustion  in  the  grate,  for  you  to  look  at,  since  you 
doubted  my  resolution  to  destroy  it." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Celebrities  of  the  American  Stage :  Mrs.  Whitelock ;  Miss  Fontenelle ; 
Hodgkinson;  Wignell. — The  Theatres  and  Yellow  Fever. — American 
Circuits. — Position  of  the  Actor  in  America. — Mrs.  Merry. — Mrs.  Mal- 
motli. — Fennell. — Cooper. — "A  Histrionic  Academy." 

THERE  were  members  of  this  company  who  must  not 
pass  unrecorded.  Here  I  found  Mrs.  Whitelock,  the  sister 
of  Mrs.  Siddons,  and  allied  to  her  in  genius  as  well  as  in 
blood;  the  handsome  Mr.  Williamson,  who  was  famous 
in  the  lovers,  as  well  off  the  stage  as  on;  and  that  most 
buoyant  and  charming  of  all  reckless  romps,  Miss  Fonte 
nelle,  the  heroine  in  London  of  many  of  O'Keefe's  farces, 
and  a  sort  of  miniature  Mrs.  Jordan,  compressed  in  one 
act.  A  girl  whose  animal  spirits  led  Merry  to  compare 
her  to  brandy  above  proof!  "  She  takes  away  my  breath," 
said  he.  And  last,  but  not  least,  here  I  also  found  Hodg 
kinson,  an  actor  from  Bath,  who  preferred  trying  the  New 
World  to  further  toil  in  the  provinces,  and,  as  the  bright 
est  of  all  the  lights  that  have  glanced  over  its  boards, 
well  deserving  the  title  he  obtained,  of  its  Koscius! 

When  I  associate  this  actor  with  Garrick  and  Hender 
son  (the  first  of  whom  I  had  often  seen,  and  the  latter 
played  with)  I  afford  some  ground  for  thinking  he  pos 
sessed  no  common  claims.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that 
had  he  enjoyed  their  good-fortune — the  inspiration  and 
discipline  of  a  refined  London  public — he  would  have  risen 
to  the  rank  of  their  undoubted  successor.  What  was  his 
distinction?  That  which  peculiarly  stamped  them — that 
union  of  a  sympathetic  and  an  imitative  faculty,  which, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OP  AMERICA.  257 

whether  of  humor  or  pathos,  can  draw  all  the  forms  and 
give  all  the  colorings  of  character.  Nature  being  full  of 
rule,  being  a  law  as  it  were  in  action,  is  of  course  a  great 
classifier,  a  worker  on  models,  fond  of  species  and  types, 
and  thus  the  old  man  and  the  young,  the  hero  and  the 
rogue  of  tragedy  and  comedy,  being  distinct  types  or 
models,  actors  usually  come  into  the  world  with  their 
own  special  aptitude;  whenever,  therefore,  nature  departs 
from  her  scheme,  and  forms  a  mind  in  which  merges  the 
most  opposite  perceptions,  as  colors  that  meet,  and  yet 
shine  in  a  rainbow,  she  is  evidently  in  one  of  her  wonder 
working  moods,  fantastical  or  wearied  with  her  uniform 
labors. 

Hodgkinson  was  a  wonder.  In  the  whole  range  of  the 
living  drama  there  was  no  variety  of  character  he  could 
not  perceive  and  embody,  from  a  Richard  or  a  Hamlet 
down  to  a  Shelty  or  a  Sharp.  To  the  abundant  mind  of 
Shakespeare  his  own  turned  as  a  moon  that  could  catch 
and  reflect  a  large  amount  of  its  radiance;  and  if,  like 
his  great  precursors,  it  seemed  to  have  less  of  the  poetic 
element  than  of  the  riches  of  humor,  this  was  owing  to 
association,  which,  in  the  midst  of  his  tragic  passions, 
would  intrude  other  images.  An  exclusive  tragedian  will 
always  seem  greater  by  virtue  of  his  specialty,  by  the 
singleness  of  impressions  which  are  simply  poetic;  while 
Hodgkinson  had  one  gift  that  enlarged  his  variety  beyond 
all  competition  —  he  was  also  a  singer,  and  could  charm 
you  in  a  burletta,  after  thrilling  you  in  a  play;  so  that 
through  every  form  of  drama  lie  was  qualified  to  pass, 
and  it  micrht  be  said  he  "exhausted  worlds"  if  he  could 

O 

not  "invent  new."  I  doubt  if  such  a  number  and  such 
greatness  of  requisites  were  ever  before  united  in  one 
mortal  man.  Nor  were  his  physical  powers  inferior  to 
his  mental;  he  was  tall  and  well-proportioned,  though 
inclining  to  be  corpulent,  with  a  face  of  great  mobility, 


258  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

that  showed  the  minutest  change  of  feeling,  while  his 
voice,  full  and  flexible,  could  only  be  likened  to  an  instru 
ment  that  his  passions  played  upon  at  pleasure. 

Such  was  this  great  actor,  who,  dying  in  the  prime  of 
life  of  a  prevailing  epidemic,  was  prevented  from  reaching 
that  distinction  which  must  have  worthily  connected  his 
memory  with  the  drama  of  his  country.  It  would  be  grati 
fying,  of  course,  if  I  could  enlarge  as  much  upon  the  man; 
but  his  early  life  had  been  unfortunate;  he  had  never 
known  a  due  restraint,  and,  as  he  rose  to  fame,  he  attract 
ed  friends  who  were  more  willing  to  share  his  errors  than 
to  pity  or  condemn  them ;  but  it  is  right  I  should  add 
that,  though  wholly  self-educated,  he  had  attained  to  taste 
and  manners,  and  even  evinced  some  skill  in  literature,  by 
the  production  of  a  comedy. 

At  Newport  I  met  my  manager  (Wignell),  and  received 
a  warm  welcome.  He  was  an  excellent  fellow,  whose 
abundance  of  heart  was  unluckily  accompanied  by  a  defi 
ciency  of  head,  that  kept  him  always  in  difficulties.  "  No 
one's  enemy  but  his  own,"  we  find  very  often  to  be  every 
one's  friend,  and  yet  such  a  benevolence  but  rarely  gains 
praise,  and  is  condemned  by  a  good  many,  merely  because 
they  didn't  happen  to  become  its  recipients.  In  a  profes 
sional  light  he  had  but  moderate  claims.  He  had  variety 
as  an  actor,  but  with  limited  power.  He  had  enjoyed  the 
good-fortune  of  being  the  first  general  comedian  who  had 
crossed  the  Atlantic;  and  by  the  side  of  the  stiff  humor 
of  his  friends,  Henry  and  Hallam,  both  of  whom  belonged 
to  the  old  school  of  London,  he  had  certainly  shone  as  a 
spirited  actor;  but  the  term  of  his  partnership  proved  also 
that  of  his  fame.  When,  in  1793,  he  returned  from  Eng 
land,  to  open  the  first  complete  theatre  America  had  wit 
nessed,  he  brought  with  him  a  company  containing  several 
comedians  who  were  much  his  superiors,  and  who  at  once 
obtained  a  fame  that  put  an  end  to  his  efforts.  Thence- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  259 

forward  he  wisely  resigned  acting  for  management — a 
difference  of  function  that  few  men  have  been  able  to 
unite  with  success,  the  varieties  of  the  one  tending  sadly 
to  militate  against  the  interests  of  the  other ;  and  I  was 
enabled  to  see  him  act  but  upon  special  occasions,  such  as 
his  own  benefits,  when  he  reminded  me  of  the  accounts  I 
had  heard  of  his  father,  who  was  one  of  Garrick's  subor 
dinates. 

Established  in  New  York,  I  was  in  a  position  to  take  a 
view  of  the  American  stage,  and  as  it  presented  just  then 
some  very  curious  distinctions,  I  trust  their  detail  will  not 
prove  unacceptable. 

There  were  three  leading  managements  at  this  time  in 
America,  conducting  three  distinct  circuits — in  the  North, 
South,  and  centre:  that  of  Hodgkinson  and  Dunlap,  who 
had  succeeded  Henry  and  Hallam,  in  the  direction  of  what 
was  called  the  "Old  American  Company,"  and  whose 
principal  cities  were  New  York  and  Boston;  that  of  Mons. 
Solee,  whose  headquarters  was  Charleston,  but  who  mi 
grated  northward  to  Newberne  and  Richmond;  and  that 
of  Wignell  and  Reinagle,  whose  home  was  Philadelphia, 
but  who  also  paid  visits  to  Baltimore  and  Annapolis. 
Each  of  these  circuits  professed  to  engage  actors  for  ten 
months  of  the  year,  and  to  employ  them  in  the  intervals; 
but  their  seasons,  owing  to  the  climate,  were  curiously 
modified.  The  English  division,  of  winter  and  summer 
seasons,  was  almost  unknown.  While  the  summer  was 
too  hot  for  any  acting  at  Charleston,  the  winter  was  too 
severe,  both  at  New  York  and  Boston,  thus  dividing  the 
seasons  there  into  autumn  and  spring.  These  extremes 
were  the  cause  of  the  arrangement  I  have  mentioned,  be 
tween  Charleston  and  Boston,  to  exchange  forces  yearly ; 
and  at  length,  of  the  system  of  going  to  the  South  in  the 
winter,  and  to  the  North  in  the  spring — the  heat,  at  the 
same  time,  being  so  great,  even  in  the  North,  that  nearly 


260  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

all  summer  schemes  were  found  to  be  failures.  This  was 
novel  enough ;  but,  at  the  period  in  question,  American 
theatricals  had  still  greater  variety.  This  was  owing  to 
the  yellow  fever  —  that  terrible  scourge  which,  passing 
from  Africa  to  the  West  Indies,  found  its  way  to  Amer 
ica  in  1792;  and  which,  though  now  nearly  extinct,  then 
yearly  made  a  tour  of  two  thirds  of  the  Union.  So  fright 
ful  were  its  ravages  that  the  first  news  of  its  approach  was 
sufficient  to  empty  towns  of  one  half  of  their  citizens;  and 
as  it  came  at  all  periods,  though  chiefly  in  summer,  it  per 
mitted  no  system  to  be  planned  with  security.  It  broke 
up  the  legislatures,  paralyzed  trade,  and,  of  course,  put 
an  end  to  all  kinds  of  amusements.  The  theatres,  need  I 
say,  were  the  earliest  to  suffer,  for,  in  addition  to  the 
panic  which  the  fever  created,  a  crowd  was  a  medium  for 
spreading  infection;  and  though  it  is  true  that  this  scourge 
rarely  entered  New  England,  yet  as  it  was  here  that  the 
atricals  flourished  the  least,  the  evils  resulting  will  be 
readily  surmised. 

Still  I  am  bound  to  confess  that,  if  it  shut  up  the  the 
atres  it  created  a  thirst  for  them,  which  tended  greatly 
to  balance  the  losses  sustained.  Startling  as  it  may  ap 
pear,  yet  the  fact  is  unquestionable  that  there  never  was 
such  a  disposition  to  enter  our  doors  as  when  the  fever 
had  departed.  The  desire  for  amusement  seemed  to  have 
increased  by  suspension.  In  the  very  first  days  of  mourn 
ing,  after  thousands  had  been  swept  from  the  bounds  of 
the  city,  let  the  theatre  but  open,  and  the  rush  to  it  from 
all  quarters  can  be  scarcely  conceived.  All  ages  and  sta 
tions  partook  of  an  excitement  which  was  usually  con 
fined  to  a  particular  class.  This  was  scarcely  to  be  viewed 
as  a  healthful  phenomenon,  and  yet  was  as  little  to  be 
traced  to  a  want  of  right  feeling.  It  was  a  startling  reac 
tion;  in  their  escape  from  a  terror  which  had  benumbed  ev 
ery  faculty,  the  mere  sense  of  safety  provoked  an  excess — 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  261 

spread  an  hysterical  feeling,  that  sought  any  amusement 
that  would  afford  it  a  vent.  It  was  the  same  in  France, 
after  the  fall  of  the  Jacobins ;  and  there,  as  in  America, 
the  drama  was  sought  chiefly  as  the  medium  of  all  others 
that  appealed  most  to  the  feelings.  Such  excitements,  of 
course,  were  opposed  to  its  interests,  and  certainly  sup 
plied  no  inspiration  to  actors;  one  half  a  population  being 
forced  into  mourning,  my  reader  may  conceive  an  au 
dience's  look  in  those  days,  and  our  satisfaction  at  finding 
ourselves  linked  with  the  cause  of  it.  The  Quakers  and 
others,  observing  our  reappearance  on  the  heels  of  the 
calamity,  discovered  the  relation  between  us  of  cause 
and  effect,  and  proclaimed  that  we  moved  in  a  perpetual 
circle,  reproducing  each  other:  the  fever,  the  actors — the 
actors,  the  fever! 

Of  the  three  circuits  I  have  named  I  may  confidently  state  - 
that  the  Philadelphia!!  scheme  at  this  period  stood  first : 
not  only  on  account  of  its  superior  company,  but  of  its  new 
and  improved  theatre,  which,  as  I  have  mentioned  else 
where,  was  the  first  complete  structure  that  had  been 
reared  in  the  West.  It  had  been  built  from  plans  sup 
plied  by  Richards,  the  secretary  of  the  Royal  Academy 
(a  relation  of  Wignell's),  and  fitted  up  by  the  talents  of 
Holland  and  Milbourne,  the  first  eminent  painters  that  had 
crossed  the  Atlantic.  All  the  other  cities,  Boston  only  ex — - 
cepted,  had  either  temporary  erections  in  some  warehouse 
or  barn,  or  else  some  poor  wooden  building,  such  as  that 
of  New  York,  which  was  equally  meagre  in  look  and  ap 
pointment.  Which  of  these  circuits,  however,  was  also 
most  prosperous,  it  would  be  harder  to  say.  If  their  evils 
were  in  common,  so  were  also  their  fortunes.  In  the 
course  of  my  extended  connection  with  the  stage  I  can 
remember  no  period  that  conduced  more  to  its  welfare. 
The  progress  of  the  war  had  not  only  freed  the  Union  from 
England,  but  from  prejudice;  and  had  prepared  for  a  calm  s 


262  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

which  naturally  tended  to  a  spirit  of  enjoyment;  while 
the  revival  of  trade  soon  made  money  abundant,  and  sup 
plied  this  desirable  spirit  with  means.  But  there  was  an 
other  favoring  circumstance.  The  enormous  emigration, 
caused  by  the  French  Revolution,  not  only  supplied  the 
theatres  with  excellent  orchestras,  a  most  attractive  addi 
tion,  but  with  a  great  mass  of  patrons,  who,  however  shat 
tered  in  fortune,  still  continued  to  find  means  for  their 
favorite  pleasure.  The  only  alloy  of  this  benefit  was  the 
fact  that  among  the  musicians  and  patrons  of  the  thea 
tre  were  numbers  of  the  poor  noblesse,  stripped  of  even 
their  names. 

But,  however  advantageous  to  a  manager's  pockets,  this 
was  also  a  period  that  respected  his  pleasures.  It  gave 
him  little  other  trouble  than  to  attend  to  his  treasury. 
Both  his  system  and  actors  were  imported  from  England, 
and  the  one,  for  some  years,  worked  as  well  as  the  other. 
The  modem  rage  for  novelties  had  as  yet  to  set  in.  The 
drama  itself  was  a  novelty,  which  proved  quite  sufficient. 
Thus  a  manager,  in  those  days,  was  not  perplexed  for 
new  pieces,  or  obliged  to  risk  a  fortune  on  those  abysses 
of  capital — modern  ballet  and  spectacle.  As  yet,  even  a 
-melodrama  was  unknown  to  the  stage;  the  nearest  ap 
proach  to  it  being  serious  pantomimes,  such  as  "La  Pe- 
rouse"  and  "Don  Juan;"  all  of  which,  however,  present 
ed  a  strong  human  interest,  and  were  as  cheaply  produced 
as  they  were  occasionally  popular.  Shakespeare  and 
'O'Keefe  were  the  staple  attractions,  varied  with  Farqu- 
har  and  Cumberland,  Goldsmith  and  Sheridan;  and  the 
performances  also  were  only  three  nights  a  week,  and  yet 
probably  averaged  as  much  as  our  six.  Thus  he  had 
nothing  to  do  at  the  opening  of  a  season  but  to  put  up  a 
cast  of  the  common  stock  plays — "  Hamlet,"  "  Othello," 
the  "  West  Indian,"  and  the  "  Rivals;"  with  the  "  Padlock," 
the  "  Poor  Soldier,"  and  the  "  Agreeable  Surprise."  The 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  263 

actors  were  all  studied,  hardly  a  rehearsal  was  needed, 
and  if  the  fever  kept  off,  the  house  filled  and  closed  with 
out  one  jar  to  his  nerves.  And  his  social  existence  was 
hardly  less  enviable.  Ilodgkinson,  for  instance,  possessed 
every  luxury;  he  had  his  town  and  country  house,  drove 
his  curricle  or  tandem,  and  gave  dinners  to  all  the  leading 
people  of  the  city,  which  would  have  made  a  London  man 
ager  thoughtful  as  to  his  following  pantomime. 

The  actor's  position  was  quite  as  good  as  the  man 
ager's.  As  yet  the  supply  of  talent  was  not  beyond  the 
demand,  and  consequently  incomes  maintained  a  fair  level. 
There  was  no  salary  at  this  period  under  four  pounds  a 
week,  while  many  reached  as  high  as  twelve  and  fifteen; 
and  as  benefits  occurred  at  least  twice  a  year,  these  ordi 
narily  added  one  third  to  the  amount.  If  an  actor  were 
unemployed,  want  and  shame  were  not  before  him:  he 
had  merely  to  visit  some  town  in  the  interior  where  no 
theatre  existed,  but  "readings  "  were  permitted;  and  giv 
ing  a  few  recitations  from  Shakespeare  and  Sterne,  his 
pockets  in  a  night  or  two  were  amply  replenished.  This 
easy  resource,  in  rendering  the  actor  independent,  com 
pelled  the  manager  to  be  generous,  and  put  both  upon  a 
footing  which  tended  not  a  little  to  uphold  their  pursuit. 
When  actors  grew  abundant  this  level  was  broken,  and 
their  reputations  in  consequence  began  to  decline.  We 
seldom  think  how  much  morals  depend  upon  means.  If 
the  rich  struggle  to  be  virtuous,  how  much  more  must  the 
poor.  When  salaries  sank,  owing  to  the  increased  com 
petition,  characters  sank  also  (the  resource  above  named 
becoming  quickly  exhausted),  and  thus  many  who  found 
themselves  without  food  among  strangers  were  forced 
into  misconduct  which  they  would  have  otherwise 
scorned. 

I  shall  now  review  the  talent  which,  at  this  period,  dis 
tinguished  the  American  stage;  and  to  do  so  more  clearly, 


264  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

will  take  it  as  it  stood  in  the  principal  companies.  To  be 
gin  then,  with  Hodgkinson's.  His  leading  supporters 
were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hallam,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Tyler,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  Powell,  Messrs.  Jeffer 
son,  Dickenson,  Martin,  and  Prigmore,  Mrs.  Melmoth, 
Mrs.  S.  Powell,  Mrs.  Brett,  and  Miss  Hardinge.  Solee's 
force  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barrett,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Williamson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whitelock,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Har 
per,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Placide,  Messrs. 
Chalmers  and  Mackenzie,  and  the  Misses  Broadhurst  and 
Green.  While  Wignell  numbered  the  following:  Messrs. 
Fennell,  Cooper,  and  Morton;  Harwood,  Blisset,  and  Fran 
cis;  Marshall,  Warren,  and  Hardinge;  Warrcll  and  Ber 
nard;  Mesdames  Merry,  Marshal,  Oldmixon,  Hardinge, 
and  Lest  range. 

Of  these  companies  the  second  was  considerably  the 
weakest.  It  wanted,  in  the  first  place,  a  leading  trage 
dian.  Neither  Barrett  nor  Williamson,  who  divided  that 
honor,  having  any  pretension  to  it.  With  good  physical 
requisites  (the  latter  especially,  who  was  remarkably  hand 
some)  and  some  versatility  their  deficiency  was  the  more 
obvious,  since,  in  addition  to  Mrs.  Barrett,  who  was  not 
without  genius,  they  could  boast  of  Mrs.  Whitelock,  an 
admirable  actress,  who  was  in  no  way  unworthy  of  her 
illustrious  sister,  and  till  Mrs.  Merry  arrived  had  de 
served  her  distinction  of  "  the  American  Siddons."  Her 
defects  were  her  person,  which  was  short  and  undignified, 
and  her  heavy,  thick  voice;  but  she  had  the  family  face, 
and  a  genuine  passion,  which  could  kindle  the  sympathies 
and  blind  the  spectator  to  every  deficiency.  Let  me  add, 
that  this  lady  was  an  honor  to  her  profession  in  every 
sense,  and  was  happy  in  a  husband  who  partook  all  her 
worth,  and  some  amount  of  her  powers.  In  the  fathers 
of  tragedy  he  had  singular  merit;  his  venerable  appear 
ance  being  worthily  sustained  by  his  pathos  and  dignity. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  265 

The  force  of  this  corps  lay  rather  in  comedy.  Chalmers, 
for  instance,  was  an  able  comedian,  though  rather  artifi 
cial,  and  more  active  than  humorous.  He  had  been  orig 
inally  a  harlequin,  but,  unlike  the  great  Woodward,  had 
continued  his  movements  to  the  displacement  of  charac 
ter.  Lewis  was  his  model,  but  he  had  unluckily  caught 
only  that  great  actor's  legs.  Jones,  his  associate,  had 
much  higher  claims:  he  was  true  and  artistic,  and,  while 
founded  on  Edwin,  had  original  powers.  Again,  Harper, 
though  old,  retained  much  of  his  humor;  while  the  charm 
ing  Mrs.  Williamson,  alias  Miss  Fontenelle,  reigned  su 
preme  over  all  transatlantic  soubrettes. 

Hodgkinson's  company  had  far  greater  force.  Its 
leader  alone  turned  the  scale  in  its  favor.  I  have  already 
tried  to  show  how  this  wonderful  actor  was  indeed  a  host 
in  himself,  and  that  his  variety,  combined  with  his  depth 
of  conception,  would  have  bestowed  on  him  the  fame  of 
a  Garrick  and  a  Henderson,  had  he  enjoyed  the  good-fort 
une  of  an  adequate  discipline.  His  history  in  America 
was  somewhat  amusing.  He  had  been  imported  by 
Henry  and  Hallam  to  annihilate  Wignell,  who,  at  the  time 
he  deserted  them,  was  the  great  favorite  of  the  States  in 
all  the  broad  comedy,  the  other  two  managers  reigning 
supreme  as  tragedians;  but  no  sooner  had  the  new  actor 
accomplished  their  object  than  he  turned  his  fire  on 
themselves,  and  tore  from  them  also  their  long-possessed 
honors,  shooting  out  into  the  most  opposite  fields  of  art, 
and  assuming  Richard  and  Lear,  as  easily  as  Mungo  and 
Shelty.  Hallam,  who  was  now  on  the  borders  of  sixty, 
presented  only  the  wreck  of  his  former  capacity,  but 
still  was  a  various  and  elegant  actor,  though  formed  more 
on  the  model  of  Quin  than  of  Garrick.  He  enjoyed  the 
distinction  of  being  the  first  youthful  star  of  the  Ameri 
can  stage  (playing,  as  a  boy,  at  New  York  as  early  as 
1752),  and  had  thus  the  good-fortune  of  being  the  first 

12 


266  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

representative  of  the  heroes  of  Shakespeare.  He  had,  con 
sequently,  a  traditional  fame  that  still  clung  to  him,  though 
he  was  shorn  of  his  beams,  and  only  allowed  to  take  the 
leavings  of  Hodgkinson's  genius.  Messrs.  Johnson  and 
Martin  were  good,  useful  actors,  who  stood  next  to  Mr. 
Hallam;  and  Mr.  Tyler  was  a  singer,  who  was  put  into 
tragedy  owing  to  his  singular  resemblance  to  General 
Washington,  which  made  it  good  policy  to  array  him  in 
powder  and  small  -  clothes  as  often  as  possible.  Mr. 
Charles  Powell,  of  Boston,  was  a  thoroughly  artistic, 
though  rather  hard,  actor;  and  Messrs.  Jefferson  and 
Dickenson  already  showed  signs  of  being  two  of  the  best 
ornaments  of  the  American  stage.  The  ladies  were  Mrs. 
Hodgkinson,  who  was  young  and  agreeable;  Mrs.  John 
son,  who  was  an  elegant  and  dignified  actress;  Mrs.  S. 
Powell,  who  was  maturing  as  an  able  tragedian;  and  my 
old  friend,  Mrs.  Melmoth,  who  still  retained  powers 
which  commanded  respect.  This  lady  was  the  wife  of 
the  then  famous  Pratt,  the  author  of  "Gleanings,"  who, 
under  the  name  of  Courtenay  Melmoth,  had  eloped  with, 
and  carried  her  on  the  stage.  They  had  been  parted 
for  some  years;  but  she  had  saved  sufficient  means  to 
purchase  a  property  on  Long  Island,  where  she  retired, 
and  died  amid  general  esteem.  Mrs.  Melmoth  had 
taste  and  judgment,  which,  combined  with  her  beauty, 
had  always  made  her  a  favorite;  but  her  misfortune,  in 
latter  years,  was  to  expand  to  a  size  that  no  tragedy  and 
black  velvet  had  power  to  subdue.  In  the  matrons,  of 
course  it  was  not  so  much  noticed;  but  on  her  performing 
the  Grecian  Daughter,  in  which  she  made  her  debtit,  at 
her  cry  to  save  her  father,  "  Tyrant,  strike  here  ! — here 
you  will  find  blood  enough,"  a  laugh  was  the  result,  that 
almost  ruined  the  play. 

I  now  come  to  our  own  corps,  which  I  think  the  supe 
rior;  and  yet,  whatever  its  claims,  which  was  scarcely  less 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  267 

marked  by  individual  traits.  And  foremost  stood  Fennell. 
Elsewhere  I  shall  attempt  to  describe  him  in  full:  suffice 
it  now,  he  was  a  character  of  no  ordinary  occurrence. 
With  a  tall,  commanding  person,  a  full,  fleshy  face,  and  a 
deep,  solemn  voice,  he  united  a  spirit  the  most  light  and 
mercurial.  He  was  the  king  of  projectors,  his  whole  life 
having  passed  in  a  series  of  schemes  which  had  emptied 
their  owner  of  all  possessions  but  faith.  Educated  for 
the  Church,  his  first  project  was  acting,  which  he  deserted 
for  politics  in  Paris,  and  for  literature  in  London;  when 
America  presented  a  new  field  for  his  efforts,  he  sought 
it,  and  successively  became  saltmaker,  bridge-builder, 
schoolmaster,  and  lecturer,  going  back,  on  the  failure  of 
.each,  to  the  stage  as  the  only  true  friend  who  would  give 
him  a  dinner.  As  an  actor,  he  certainly  laid  small  claim 
to  genius,  being  rather  what  is  known  as  an  excellent 
reader;  but  he  had  great  cultivation;  and  in  particular 
characters,  where  his  coldness  and  person  were  equally 
needed,  such  as  Brutus  and  Zanga,  he  could  exhibit  great 
force,  and  tower  at  moments  into  positive  grandeur. 

Cooper,  his  colleague,  who,  after  Hodgkinson's  death, 
became  our  ruling  tragedian,  had  also  his  distinctions. 
The  son  of  an  Irish  surgeon,  he  had  been  educated  chiefly 
under  the  care  of  Mr.  Godwin,  and  so  derived  that  inde 
pendence  which  marked  him  through  life.  Endowed  with 
great  genius,  and  the  highest  qualifications  in  face,  voice, 
and  person,  he  had  little  or  no  art,  which  he  never  strove 
to  acquire,  being  content  to  cover  its  want  by  his  impulse 
and  freshness.  Thus,  as  he  grew  older,  he  failed  to  improve, 
while  his  luxurious  habits  abated  his  force,  and  left  but 
gleams  of  the  fire  which,  at  first,  was  continuous.  His 
history  is  significant.  Appearing  as  Hamlet,  at  Covent- 
Garden,  when  scarcely  turned  twenty,  he  produced  the 
most  signal  impression,  even  in  the  face  of  John  Kcm- 
blc.  But,  instead  of  remaining,  and  winning  his  way  up- 


268  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

ward  by  study  and  art,  lie  thought  America  a  field  which 
he  could  seize  without  effort,  and  there  found  he  had  to 
grapple  with  the  successor  of  Henderson.  Thus  rendered 
more  careless,  he  failed  in  1803,  when  he  sought  a  second 
time  to  win  the  verdict  of  London;  though,  on  returning 
to  America,  he  became  its  great  favorite,  until  the  arrival 
of  Cooke,  whose  light,  though  it  was  setting,  extinguished 
all  others.  Still,  with  all  his  defects,  I  look  back  to  his 
youth  as  displaying  a  power  which  I  can  only  rank  second 
to  the  greatest  I  have  seen.  I  still  think  his  Macbeth  was 
only  inferior  to  Garrick's,  and  his  Hamlet  to  Kemble's; 
while  his  Othello,  I  think,  was  equal  to  Barry's  itself. 

ISText  to  Cooper  ranked  Morton,  a  young  native  actor, 
of  singular  promise,  who  had  also  the  advantage  of  great 
personal  requisites.  He  was  the  ideal  of  a  lover,  having 
a  natural  elegance,  as  well  as  great  tenderness,  which  ren 
dered  him  the  Holman  of  the  American  stage.  His  forte, 
lay  in  sentiment  rather  than  tragedy,  rendering  his  Bel- 
cour  and  Harry  Daunton  quite  marvels  of  acting.  But 
he  could  rise  above  these;  and  his  Romeo  and  Jaffier  were 
the  very  best  I  have  seen.  He  was  doomed  to  die  early, 
and  his  loss,  in  my  experience,  was  never  replaced.  Our 
comedians  were  Ilarwood,  a  clever  transcript  of  Bannister, 
but  who  added,  however,  various  traits  of  his  own;  War 
ren,  who  displayed  much  of  the  vigor  of  Dowton;  and 
Blisset  and  Francis,  two  excellent  actors,  if  somewhat 
narrow  in  range.  To  such  a  strong  list  of  men,  when  I 
add  that  our  ladies  were  in  no  way  inferior — that  Mrs. 
Oldmixon  could  have  fully  replaced  Mrs.  Mattocks,  and 
Mrs.  Marshall  deserved  the  name  of  the  American  Jordan, 
I  shall  complete  it  by  adding  the  name  of  Mrs.  Merry, 
whose  triumphs  in  London  would  render  any  eulogy  al 
most  a  slur  on  her  powers. 

Divided  into  two  ranks  as  are  the  Shakesperian  heroines 
— the  queenly  and  thoughtful,  the  loving  and  passionate — 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  269 

if  Mrs.  Siddons,  in  the  one,  ascended  to  a  greatness  that 
almost  became  an  identity,  Mrs.  Merry,  on  the  other,  I 
think,  was  equally  perfect,  and  equally  gifted  to  enrapt 
ure  an  audience.  With  a  voice  that  was  all  music,  and 
a  face  all  emotion,  her  pathos  and  tenderness  were  never 
exceeded ;  and  if  unequal  to  the  grandeur  of  Katherine 
and  Constance,  her  Juliet  and  Imogen  were  indelible  im 
ages. 

My  acquaintance,  at  this  period,  with  Messrs.  Hallam 
and  Morris,  two  of  the  earliest  members  of  the  "Old 
American  Company,"  enables  me  to  recount  a  few  partic 
ulars  of  the  drama  before  and  after  the  Revolution,  which 
may,  perhaps,  be  acceptable.  During  their  early  cam 
paigns  they  only  played  twice  a  week,  and  to  an  -average 
nightly  receipt  of  about  £70,  their  current  expenses  rang 
ing  under  £15.  The  original  theatres  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  were  fitted  up  to  contain  £150,  and,  as  a 
proof  of  their  simplicity,  at  an  average  cost  of  about  three 
times  that  sum ;  the  expense  of  scenery  and  wardrobe 
amounting  to  as  much  more — so  that  the  entire  outlay,  at 
starting,  came  under  £1200.  I  have  elsewhere  referred 
to  the  vigorous  opposition  they  had  to  meet  on  all  sides. 
This  led  to  peculiar  customs.  To  conciliate  their  enemies, 
they  always,  acted  one  evening  in  each  season  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poor;  while  to  obtain  even  a  hearing,  they 
were  forced  to  travel  with  a  "character"  from  the  gov 
ernors  of  the  respective  states — in  the  manner  of  the  old 
companies  in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  My  reader  is 
aware  that  actors,  in  those  days,  always  carried  a  passport 
from  some  nobleman,  to  escape  being  pounced  on  as  va 
grants,  a  fact  which  explains  their  turning  lacqueys  (the 
duke's  servants,  etc.),  instead  of  seeking,  as  in  our  time, 
their  true  patron,  the  public;  their  chief  object  was  pro 
tection  against  the  fangs  of  the  law.  But  another  re 
source,  in  America,  was  even  more  characteristic.  To 


270  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

elude  the  objection  to  plays,  they  either  opened  (as  did 
Douglas)  an  "Histrionic  Academy,  in  order  to  deliver 
dissertations  on  subjects  instructive  and  entertaining," 
and  to  qualify  their  visitors  "  to  speak  in  public  with  pro 
priety;"  or  they  announced  an  entertainment  which  they 
called  "Moral  Dialogues,"  which  wTere  still  more  expres 
sive;  and  as  Mr.  Morris  had  fortunately  preserved  a  bill 
of  one  of  these,  which  he  allowed  me  to  copy,  I  am  happy 
in  being  able  to  present  it  to  my  reader.  This  singular 
document,  presenting  so  clear  a  method  of  vindicating 
Shakespeare,  ran  in  the  following  manner : 

KING'S  AEMS  TAVEEN,  NEWPOET,  KHODE  ISLAND, 

ON  MONDAY,  JUNE  10,  AT  THE  PUBLIC  ROOM  OF  THE  ABOVE 
INN,  WILL  BE  DELIVERED  A  SERIES  OF 

MORAL    DIALOGUES, 

iy  FIVE  PARTS, 

DEPICTING  THE  EVIL  EFFECTS  OF  JEALOUSY  AND  OTHER  BAD  PASSIONS, 

AND  PROVING  THAT  HAPPINESS  CAN  ONLY  SPRING  FROM 

THE  PURSUIT  OF  VIRTUE. 

"MR.  DOUGLAS  will  represent  a  noble  and  magnanimous  Moor  named 
Othello,  who  loves  a  young  lady  named  Desdemona,  and  after  he  has  mar 
ried  her,  harbors  (as  in  too  many  cases)  the  dreadful  passion  of  jealousy. 
Of  jealousy,  our  being's  bane, 
Mark  the  small  cause,  and  the  most  dreadful  pain. 
"  MR.  ALLYN  will  depict  the  character  of  a  specious  villain,  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Othello,  who  is  so  base  as  to  hate  his  commander  on  mere  sus 
picion,  and  to  impose  on  his  best  friend.     Of  such  characters,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  there  are  thousands  in  the  world,  and  the  one  in  question  may  pre 
sent  to  us  a  salutary  warning. 

The  man  that  wrongs  his  master  and  his  friend, 
What  can  he  come  to  but  a  shameful  end  ? 

"MR.  HALLAM  will  delineate  a  young  and  thoughtless  officer,  who  is 
traduced  by  Mr.  Allyn,  and,  getting  drunk,  loses  his  situation  and  his 
general's  esteem.     All  young  men  whatsoever,  take  example  from  Cassio. 
The  ill  effects  of  drinking  would  you  see  ? 
I3e  warned,  and  keep  from  evil  company. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  271 

"  MR.  MORRIS  will  represent  an  old  gentleman,  the  father  of  Desdemona, 
who  is  not  cruel  or  covetous,  but  is  foolish  enough  to  dislike  the  noble 
Moor,  his  son-in-law,  because  his  face  is  not  white,  forgetting  that  we 
all  spring  from  one  root.  Such  prejudices  are  very  numerous  and  very 

wrong. 

Fathers  beware  what  sense  and  love  ye  lack, 

'Tis  crime,  not  color,  makes  the  being  black. 

"  MR.  QUALCII  will  depict  a  fool,  who  wishes  to  become  a  knave,  and 
trusting  to  one,  gets  killed  by  him.  Such  is  the  friendship  of  rogues — 
take  heed. 

When  fools  would  knaves  become,  how  often  you'll 

Perceive  the  knave  not  wiser  than  the  fool. 

"MRS.  MORRIS  will  represent  a  young  and  virtuous  wife,  who  being 
wrongfully  suspected,  gets  smothered  (in  an  adjoining  room)  by  her  hus 
band. 

Reader,  attend ;  and  e'er  thou  goest  hence 

Let  fall  a  tear  to  hapless  innocence. 

"  MRS.  DOUGLAS  will  be  her  faithful  attendant,  who  will  hold  out  a  good 
example  to  all  servants,  male  and  female,  and  to  all  people  in  subjection. 

Obedience  and  gratitude 

Are  things  as  rare  as  they  are  good. 

"  Various  other  dialogues,  too  numerous  to  mention  here,  will  be  deliv 
ered  at  night,  all  adapted  to  the  improvement  of  the  mind  and  manners. 
The  whole  will  be  repeated  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday,  Tickets  six 
shillings  each,  to  be  had  within.  Commencement  at  7,  conclusion  at  half- 
past  10,  in  order  that  every  spectator  may  go  home  at  a  sober  hour,  and 
reflect  upon  what  he  has  seen  before  he  retires  to  rest 

God  save  the  king, 

And  long  may  he  sway 
East,  North,  and  South, 

And  fair  America." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Undertaking  Management. — Supplies  Xeeded. — Visit  to  England. — Irish 
Fishermen. — Proposals  and  Refusals. — Final  Engagements. — Monk 
Lewis's  Irish  Friend. — Caulfield. — Transport  Arrangements. — A  Bath 
Greeting. — The  Theatrical  Fund. — Story  of  a  Landlord's  Retort. — 
Whiteley  and  Macklin. — Bowles's  Hoax. — Rolling  in  Riches. — A  Frozen 
Sheep. — A  Russian  Tool. — Tragedy  of  an  Actor's  Life. —  Mr.  Will 
iams. — Marriage. — Departure. — A  Friendly  Foe. — Voyage. — Arrival  in 
Boston. 

AFTER  nine  years'  pleasant  experience  in  America  as  a 
successful  actor  I  had  determined  to  try  my  fate  as  a 
manager,  and  agreed  to  take  a  third  share  of  the  Boston 
Theatre,  in  conjunction  with  Powell  &  Dickinson.  But 
to  lease  a  theatre  was  but  a  small  part  of  the  business; 
we  needed  actors  and  actresses,  scenery,  dresses,  etc., 
such  as  could  not  be  found  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  it  was,  therefore,  resolved  that  I  should  proceed  to 
England  to  obtain  all  that  was  required;  a  task  not  with' 
out  its  difficulties,  as  my  narrative  will  show.  I  left 
Boston  in  April,  1806,  and  after  a  three  weeks'  prosper 
ous  voyage  found  myself  once  more  near  the  Irish  coast. 
The  first  sight  which  impressed  me  with  the  fact  that  I 
was  "home"  again  was  a  battered,  patched-up  fishing- 
smack,  with  a  solitary  sail,  consisting  of  as  many  pieces 
and  colors  as  a  New  England  farmer's  counterpane,  and 
manned  by  three  tatterdemalions,  who  might  well  have 
served  as  scarecrows.  On  hailing  this  precious  craft,  she 
came  alongside,  and,  assuming  the  best  brogue  I  could,  I 
addressed  myself  to  the  helmsman  : 

"How  is  it  wid  you,  darlint?" 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  273 

"Better  than  it  was,  and  not  so  well  as  it  may  be,"  was 
the  reply. 

"What  luck  since  you  left  shore?"  I  continued. 

"Bad  enough;  we've  eat  all  the  fish  we  caught  and  a 
dale  more — let  alone  the  praties." 

"  But  have  you  any  garden  fruit  left — any  raal  apri 
cots,  now?" 

"  Oh,  bushels,  delight  to  you  !  you've  only  to  open 
your  mouth  and  they'll  find  their  way  into  it." 

As  we  had  exhausted  our  stock  of  potatoes  some  days 
ago,  a  supply  of  this  vegetable,  and  from  their  favorite 
soil,  proved  very  acceptable,  and  I  gave  the  Hibernian  a 
quart  of  rum  in  return  for  a  bushel  of  his  "  praties." 

The  man  thought  himself  so  liberally  paid  in  this  ex 
change  that  he  warmly  expressed  his  gratitude,  and  then 
added: 

"But  you  are  an  Irishman,  dare;  where  does  your 
family  come  from?" 

"Limerick,"  replied  I. 

"Limerick!  why,  'tis  my  own  swate  birthplace!  Oh, 
I'll  spake  to  you,  darlint." 

Saying  which,  he  prepared  at  once  to  run  up  the  side  of 
the  vessel,  when  one  of  his  companions  caught  him  by  the 
leg,  exclaiming: 

"Stop,  Patrick,  stop!  how  do  you  know  but  what  they 
will  kidernapper  you?" 

"  Oh,  bother,"  he  replied,  good-humoredly,"  and  if  they 
did  kidernap  me,  they  wouldn't  kidernap  the  boat,  you 
know." 

Our  Irish  passenger  being  informed  that  a  fellow-coun 
tryman  had  come  on  board,  came  towards  him  with  great 
eagerness,  and  a  dialogue  ensued  as  to  what  the  fisherman 
would  ask  for  landing  the  other  on  the  Irish  coast,  which 
he  would  prefer  to  proceeding  with  the  ship  to  Liverpool. 

"Will  I  take  you  to  land?"  said  the  fisherman.  "Sure 
12* 


274  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

an'  I  will.  I  wouldn't  take  you  to  the  bottom  under 
double  price.  There's  Phelim,  Teddy,  and  myself — three 
jinteel  lads  we're  allowed  to  be — and  as  for  Molly  Mona 
ghan,  you  shall  say  before  you've  gone  a  herrin's  length 
on  the  water  that  she's  the  swatest  craythur  intirely  you 
ever  sailed  with  in  your  life." 

"And  who's  Molly  Monaghan?"  inquired  the  passenger. 

"  Why,  the  smack,  sure ;  we  couldn't  get  ashore  with 
out  her,  you  know.  I  call  her  Molly  Monaghan  after  my 
first  wife,  to  remimber  me  of  her  vartues." 

"And  what  terms  do  you  want,  countryman?" 

"  Tarms !     I'd  rather  have  money." 

"Well,  money  I  mane." 

"Where  did  you  come  from,  may  I  ax,  when  you  was 
in  Ireland?  Cork,  was  it  ?  Well,  then,  if  you  had  hap 
pened  to  have  come  from  Ballyshannon  I'd  have  taken 
you  all  the  way  to  land  for  nothing ;  but  if  it's  from  Cork 
you  came  I  couldn't  do  it  for  less  than  thra  thirtaners." 

This  offer  being  agreed  to,  the  Irishman's  trunks  were 
thrown  on  board  the  smack,  and  he  began  to  take  leave 
of  his  fellow-passengers.  One  of  them,  an  American, 
now  asked  the  boatman  if  he  never  met  with  accidents  in 
so  shattered  a  boat. 

"Accidints!  bless  your  honor,"  was  the  reply,  "why, 
doesn't  your  honor  see  that  bit  of  a  horseshoe  nailed  under 
the  bow?" 

"Aha;  yes,  I  do." 

"  Well,  and  did  you  ever  hear  of  a  fisherman's  smack 
that  met  with  misfortin  when  he  had  a  never-worn  horse 
shoe  nailed  to  his  bows?" 

This  question,  involving  more  familiarity  with  the  de 
tails  of  nautical  disasters  than  the  Yankee  possessed,  com-' 
pletely  puzzled  him. 

"  But,"  he  at  length  resumed,  "  I  calculate,  friend,  that 
your  boat  is  very  old." 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  275 

"  Old,  sure  enough,  is  she,  but  that  only  makes  her  the 
more  exparienced,  you  know.  Molly  and  I  were  launched 
the  same  summer,  and  that's  thirty-nine  year  ago,  come 
next  May,  and  we  both  get  the  wiser  as  we  grow  oulder. 
What  did  she  or  I  know  about  fishing  or  sailing  when  we 
were  both  youngsters?" 

"  Nay,  but  I  think  you  must  allow  that  the  older  a  ves 
sel  grows,  she  grows  the  more  dangerous." 

"  Well,  your  honor,  and  if  so?" 

"  Then,  I  reckon,  you  encounter  some  toughish  weather 
off  this  foreland  sometimes?" 

"Ah,  and  you  may  say  that,  honey." 

"Well,  friend,  I  should  like  to  know  why  you  think  it 
worth  while  every  day  to  run  such  a  risk  of  death?" 

"Why,  your  honor,  isn't  it  for  a  livin',  to  be  sure." 

Two  days  after  this  we  ran  into  Liverpool,  and  after 
purchasing  a  variety  of  articles  for  the  theatre,  to  be  sent 
off  at  once  to  Boston,  I  made  my  way  to  the  metropolis. 
On  visiting  Drury  Lane  and  the  Haymarket,  I  liked 
Messrs.  Rae  and  Bartley  sufficiently  to  address  them  on 
the  subject  of  a  trip  to  America,  which,  however,  both 
declined;  and  I  then  wrote  to  Dublin  to  Miss  Walstein, 
Mrs.  Edwin,  and  Montague  Talbot.  At  Covent  Garden 
Mr.  Harris  received  me  very  kindly,  congratulating  me 
on  the  success  I  had  met  with  in  America,  though  he 
added,  as  he  shook  his  head  significantly,  that  I  had 
marred  my  fortunes  in  quitting  England.  He  even  of 
fered  me  such  liberal  terms  to  make  my  reappearance  be 
fore  the  London  public  that,  had  I  been  free,  I  could 
hardly  have  refused;  but,  as  it  was,  this  was  out  of  the 
question.  Disappointed  again  in  my  applications  to  Dub 
lin,  owing  to  the  disinclination  of  one  performer  and  the 
exorbitant  demands  of  another  (he  actually  wanted  twenty 
pounds  a  week — modest  in  the  extreme!),  I  now  made 
overtures  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  II.  Johnson,  and  everything 


270  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

was  settled  except  signing  the  articles,  when  the  lady  was 
persuaded  to  give  up  the  design  and  declare  off,  where 
upon  her  husband  came  to  me  in  a  great  passion,  very 
honorably  offering  to  proceed  to  America  directly  and 
keep  his  own  word  with  me,  although  his  wife  had  for 
feited  hers.  I  could  not,  however,  think  of  separating 
man  and  wife,  when,  too,  they  had  good  prospects  in  their 
own  country.  At  last  I  succeeded  in  engaging  Cipriani, 
the  "Clown,"  who  was  recommended  to  me  by  my  old 
friend,  Macready;*  and  I  also  came  to  an  agreement  with 
Mrs.  Stanley  (otherwise  the  Honorable  Mrs.  Twisleton) 
to  support  the  leading  characters  of  comedy  and  tragedy. 
During  this  time  I  had  daily  invitations  to  go  abroad,  but, 
apart  from  my  professional  duties,  only  found  leisure  to 
cultivate  one  acquaintance,  that  of  a  young  lady  named 
Wright,  to  whom  I  had  been  lately  introduced,  and  whose 
person  and  manners  so  charmed  me  that  I  determined  to 
try  and  induce  her  to  return  with  me  as  a  governess  for 
my  motherless  children. 

Among  other  invitations  at  this  period  Andrew  Cherry 
asked  me  to  dine  with  him,  and  brought  together  a  host 
of  old  companions  to  meet  me — Incledon,  John  Emery, 
Macready,  Johnny  Quick,  and  several  others.  When  the 
bottle  began  to  circulate  we  amused  each  other  with  in 
dulging  in  recollections  of  our  early  life — "  Every  Man  in 
his  Humor" — some  of  which  recollections  may  perhaps 
bear  repetition.  Quick  told  us  that  during  his  strolling 
days  the  company  in  which  he  was  enrolled  had,  on  one 
occasion,  proceeded  to  a  miserable  village  which,  proving 
incapable  of  supporting  them,  they  soon  ran  up  a  longer 
bill  inside  the  landlord's  bar  than  the  one  they  had  hung 
outside  his  door.  As  they  seemed  to  have  no  means  of 
discharging  this,  since,  however  there  might  be  a  slight 

*  William  Macready,  the  father  of  William  Charles  Macready. 


THE   HON.  MRS.   TWISLETON   (AFTERWARDS    MRS.   STANLEY). 

From  the  Monthly  Mirror,  London,  April,  1796. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  277 

vein  of  brass  in  their  foreheads,  there  was  certainly  neither 
silver  nor  gold  in  their  pockets,  the  host  came  to  the  con 
clusion  that — as  sometimes  with  man  as  with  the  elephant, 
the  trunk  may  be  the  most  valuable  part — he  must  look 
to  the  goods  of  the  company  as  an  indemnification  for 
their  evil.  At  length  Quick  and  his  companions  gave  out, 
with  much  literary  pomposity,"  The  Tragedy  of  Macbeth, 
with  all  the  Original  Music,"  in  hopes  of  inducing  a  live 
lier  attendance  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  place.  How 
ever,  when  the  night  arrived,  but  few  people  dropped  into 
the  room,  and  they  were  again  disappointed.  Still  the 
play  proceeded,  and  without  interruption,  till  they  came 
to  the  music  of  "  We  Fly  by  Night."  No  sooner  did  the 
words  reach  the  ear  of  the  perturbed  landlord,  who  was 
sitting  at  the  end  of  the  room  ruminating  on  what  must 
be  the  end  of  the  matter,  than  he  started  up  in  surprise, 
listened  an  instant  to  the  reiterated,  "  We  Fly  by  Night, 
We  Fly  by  Night" — then,  catching  the  notes,  responded 
to  the  same  tune  with  a  grim  smile  of  satisfaction,  "And 
I'll  stop  your  trunks  !  I'll  stop  your  trunks  !" 

On  calling  in  at  one  of  the  theatrical  houses  to  make  an 
inquiry,  I  accidentally  encountered  another  old  acquaint 
ance,  Mr.  Robert  Bowles.  Poor  Bob  was  a  most  original 
and  extraordinary  eccentric.  Twenty  years  had  passed 
over  since  he  and  I  had  parted  at  Dublin,  and  Bob  had 
somewhat  declined  into  the  vale  of  years,  but  still  retained 
all  the  frolicsome  and  facetious  character  of  his  disposi 
tion.  It  happened  that  I  had  just  received  an  invitation 
from  Cartwright  (of  the  musical  glasses)  to  dine  with  him 
at  Richmond,  with  a  request  that  I  would  bring  a  friend 
with  me,  and,  as  among  the  company  I  knew  that  I  should 
meet  Mr.  Monk  Lewis,  Kemble,  Cherry,  Harry  Johnston, 
and  some  others  who  would  be  disposed  to  be  convivial, 
I  conceived  that  my  comic  friend,  Bob  Bowles,  would 
prove  an  agreeable  addition  to  their  number.  He  was  in 


278  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

high  spirits,  and  proved,  as  I  had  expected,  the  chief 
source  of  amusement  for  the  evening.  Among  other  of 
his  recollections  he  related  an  affair  in  which  I  had  been 
a  participator.  On  his  first  visit  to  Plymouth  Dock  (about 
1780)  he  found  a  very  dashing  innkeeper  there  of  the 
name  of  Rogers,  who,  from  being  fond  of  theatricals  him 
self,  induced  the  actors  to  make  his  house  their  rendez 
vous.  Frank  Rogers,  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  though 
a  bustling  and  conversable  man,  was  extremely  weak  and 
credulous,  too  much  so  for  his  own  interest,  considering 
the  business  in  which  he  was  engaged.  Having  taken  a 
great  liking  to  Bowles's  company  during  the  season,  Frank, 
on  some  occasion,  promised  him  a  supper,  which  promise, 
however,  on  some  pretence  or  another,  he  had  evaded  ful 
filling.  Bowles,  however,  did  not  forget  it,  and  when  the 
comedy  of  the  "  Bold  Stroke  for  a  Wife  "  was  about  to 
be  performed,  during  rehearsal  he  took  up  a  letter  from 
the  prompter's  table  which  was  intended  to  be  delivered 
to  Obadiah  Prim,  and  the  chief  contents  of  which  ran 
thus:  "Friend,  there  is  a  design  formed  to  rob  thy  house 
and  to  cut  thy  throat  this  night,"  etc.,  etc.  This  let 
ter  Bob  secreted,  and  then  sent,  duly  directed,  to  Frank 
Rogers.  The  latter,  unfortunately  among  other  youthful 
neglects,  had  paid  so  little  attention  to  what  he  called 
"spelling  and  scrawling,"  that,  though  capable  of  sug 
gesting  a  bill  with  any  innkeeper  in  the  county,  he  was 
quite  unable  to  draw  one  out,  and  found  it  not  very  easy 
even  to  read  handwriting.  Bowles,  therefore,  who  took 
care  to  follow  immediately  after  the  delivery  of  this  letter, 
found  Rogers,  as  he  had  expected,  puzzling  himself  might 
ily  to  decipher  it,  and  at  his  request  took  it  from  him, 
and  read  it  out  with  a  distinct  voice  and  a  seemingly 
thunderstruck  countenance.  "  Oh,"  exclaimed  Rogers, 
"they  are  coming  at  last,  are  they?  I've  been  threatened 
by  the  rascals  a  long  time.  Friend  Bowles,  what  would 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  279 

you  have  me  do  in  this  situation  ?  had  I  better  get  a  guard 
from  the  garrison,  or  half  a  dozen  constables  to  sit  up  and 
receive  these  ruffians  ?" 

"Why,"  said  Bowles,  "in  my  opinion,  either  of  these 
plans  would  make  the  matter  public,  and  then  the  thieves 
would  perhaps  defer  their  visit.  What  firearms  have  you 
in  the  house?" 

"Why,  two  fowling-pieces,"  replied  Frank,  "besides 
my  duck-gun,  which  carries  fifty  buckshot;  but  then  I 
could  borrow  a  couple  of  guns  from  my  neighbors  without 
suspicion." 

"Well,  then,"  continued  Bowles,  "the  best  thing  you 
can  do,  my  dear  Frank,  will  be  to  invite  half  a  dozen 
friends  to  sit  up  with  you  on  this  occasion,  and  give  the 
rogues  a  warm  reception  when  they  come." 

In  this  plan  Rogers  coincided  heartily,  and  Bowles  un 
dertook  to  bring  the  friends,  while  Frank  employed  him 
self  in  procuring  arms  and  ammunition,  and  in  preparing 
a  good  supper.  Bowles  thus  found  that  he  had  carried 
his  first  point — a  supper — but  he  had  now  a  second  in  view 
— the  hoax,  which,  of  the  two,  was  to  him  infinitely  the 
more  agreeable.  Among  the  companions  he  procured  for 
this  purpose  I  was  one,  and  we  were  all  soon  put  up  to 
his  roguery,  and  resolved  upon  a  piece  of  good  acting 
throughout  the  evening.  The  supper  Frank  prepared  for 
us  was  excellent,  and  wine  and  punch  were  abundantly 
provided  in  order  that  our  courage,  by  sufficient  libations, 
should  be  exalted  to  its  very  highest  pitch.  Bowles,  who 
had  the  loading  of  the  guns,  of  course  omitted  putting 
in  the  bullets,  and  each  man  being  then  provided  with  his 
piece,  examined  and  placed  it  beside  him  with  military 
precision.  An  hour  or  two  passed  over  very  pleasantly; 
but  when  twelve  o'clock  struck  we  agreed  to  remain  silent, 
and  only  fill  our  glasses  at  a  nod  from  the  chairman.  Ev 
ery  footstep  that  went  by  was  now  felt  to  be  a  robber's. 


280  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Frank  would  start  up,  exclaiming  in  a  whisper:  " Stand 
to  your  guns,  my  boys  !  Here  they  come."  Whereupon 
all  of  us  would  seize  our  weapons,  and  hold  ourselves  in 
readiness,  Bowles  catching  up  the  long  duck-gun,  ham 
mering  the  flint  with  his  knife,  calling  in  suppressed  tones 
for  the  powder-flask,  till  the  noise  had  gone  by,  when  we 
all  returned  softly  to  our  seats,  and  emptied  our  glasses  in 
silence.  No\v  it  happened  that  on  this  evening  a  stranger, 
who,  when  he  had  arrived  in  Plymouth,  had  put  up  at 
Frank's  house,  having  been  out  to  pay  a  visit,  had  de 
layed  his  return  so  long  that  he  did  not  get  back  before 
one  in  the  morning.  On  reaching  the  inn  he  knocked 
pretty  loudly  at  the  front  door;  but  Rogers  having  sent 
all  the  servants  to  bed  with  strict  injunctions  not  to  stir 
until  morning,  the  summons,  of  course,  met  with  no  atten 
tion.  The  noise,  however,  put  us  on  our  guard.  At  length, 
descrying  through  the  crevices  of  the  window  a  light  in 
the  parlor  in  which  we  were  sitting,  the  stranger  came 
and  thumped  there- as  loudly  as  he  had  done  before.  In 
a  moment  we  were  all  on  our  legs,  with  our  guns  levelled 
in  the  direction  of  the  sound. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?"  demanded  the  landlord,  in  the 
gruffest  and  most  intimidating  tone  he  could  assume. 

"  Want?  why,  to  come  in,  to  be  sure !"  replied  the  voice 
outside. 

"  I  dare  say  you  do,"  said  Frank;  "but  you'll  get  a  brace 
of  bullets  through  your  skull  for  your  pains,  and  so  I  warn 
you." 

"A  brace  of  bullets  through  my  skull!  and  what  for?" 
was  the  astonished  rejoinder. 

"What  for!  what  for?"  repeated  Rogers,  losing  all 
command  of  his  temper,  "  why,  you  throat-cutting  rascal, 
because  you  want  to  break  in  and  plunder  my  house,  cer 
tainly.  Don't  try  to  impose  upon  me!  I  know  all  about 
you  and  your  designs;  and  now — I  warn  you — here's  my- 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  281 

self  and  a  dozen  friends,  armed  with  guns  and  blunder 
busses,  and  if  you  and  your  whole  gang  don't  decamp 
immediately,  d — n  me  (with  great  emphasis),  but  we  will 
blow  you  all  into  atoms,  and  cut  you  into  mincemeat." 

The  stranger,  though  no  doubt  somewhat  surprised,  took 
the  hint  thus  gently  conveyed,  and  departed. 

In  this  manner  we  continued  our  foolery  till  daybreak, 
when  Rogers  announced  to  the  family,  in  great  triumph, 
that  the  house  had  been  assaulted  during  the  night  by  a 
gang  of  bold,  bloodthirsty  thieves,  and  that  we  had  suc 
cessfully  repulsed  them ! 

Bowles  was  a  great  romancer,  but  the  most  humorous 
in  his  nonsense  I  ever  listened  to.  When  a  young  man 
he  had  accompanied  old  Fisher,  the  manager,  out  to  St. 
Petersburg,  with  some  other  performers,  to  establish  an 
English  theatre  there  under  the  especial  patronage  of  the 
Empress  Catherine,  and  under  the  title  of  "  Russian  Recol 
lections  "  often  gave  us  some  extraordinary  anecdotes  of 
his  stay  in  that  country.  "  In  St.  Petersburg,"  said  he, 
"  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  rolled  in  riches.  And  how 
do  you  think  that  was?  Why,  on  my  benefit  night  I  re 
ceived  a  blanket  full  of  roubles,  which  I  ordered  a  couple 
of  porters  to  carry  home  and  lay  on  the  floor,  when  I 
pulled  off  my  coat  and  tumbled  about  in  them  until  bed 
time." 

Speaking  of  the  cold  in  Russia,  he  observed  that  it  was 
so  intense  that  in  crossing  a  field  one  day  in  the  course  of 
a  walk,  he  espied  several  sheep  frozen  to  death,  and  one 
in  particular  sitting  on  its  hams  in  the  act  of  nibbling 
something  from  a  bush.  "  This  sheep  I  accidentally  struck 
with  my  stick,  and  it  flew  to  pieces  like  a  glass  bottle !" 

He  then  gave  us  a  long  description  of  Russian  ships, 
pointing  out  several  niceties  of  art  in  their  build,  but  seri 
ously  affirming  in  conclusion  that  they  were  constructed 
entirely  with  one  single  tool.  Cartwright  thereupon  in- 


282  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

quired  what  that  tool  might  be.  Bowles  replied  that  it 
was  a  sort  of  hatchet.  "Ah,  then,"  said  Cartwright,  with 
a  good-humored  shake  of  the  head,  "  they  will  never  build 
another  ship,  Bob."  "  Why  not  ?"  inquired  Bowles.  "  Be 
cause  you  have  brought  away  the  hatchet  wTith  you !" 

Meeting  one  day  a  Mr.  Williams,  of  Philadelphia,  whom 
I  had  known  there  as  a  gentleman  of  great  talent  and  re 
spectability,  I  found  he  was  now  in  partnership  in  London 
with  his  brother.  He  told  me  also  that  he  had  a  schooner 
just  ready  to  leave  port,  in  which  he  meant  to  embark  for 
America  in  pursuit  of  a  vessel  belonging  to  the  firm,  which 
had  been  run  away  with  by  the  captain  and  crew,  and  as 
he  should  carry  out  no  freight  he  offered  to  transport  to 
Boston  all  the  company  and  the  luggage  I  was  returning 
with  free  of  all  expense.  Unluckily  for  me  my  previous 
arrangement  at  Bristol  precluded  me  from  availing  my 
self  of  this  generous  offer.  * 

I  have  little  more  to  say  of  the  remainder  of  my  stay 
in  England.  I  made  no  further  engagements  except  one 
with  Mr.  Hatton,  of  the  Haymarket,  whom  I  saw  perform 
a  character  in  the  farce  of  "  The  Finger-Post,"  in  a  broad 
style  of  low  comedy,  much  to  my  satisfaction.  As  he  was 
not  able  to  accompany  me,  he  agreed  to  follow  me  to  Bos 
ton  at  the  termination  of  his  present  engagement,  and  he 
proved  to  be  an  extraordinary  personage.  I  now  de 
spatched  Mrs.  Stanley  and  Cipriani,  Messrs.  Caulfield,  Vi- 
ning,  and  Vigors  to  Bristol,  took  leave  of  all  my  friends 
(save  one),  and,  having  shaken  their  hands,  prevailed  on 
this  one — the  fair  Miss  Wright  —  to  bestow  hers  upon 
me,  at  St.  James's  Church,  for  I  had  soon  discovered  her 
fitness  to  be  something  more  than  a  governess  to  my 
children.  Until  that  morning  she  had  never  seen  me  by 
daylight,  since,  having  no  longer  the  advantage  of  youth 
in  my  endeavors  to  render  myself  agreeable,  I  had  never 
paid  my  visits  to  her  until  after  dark  and  in  evening  dress. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  283 

As,  however,  exposure  to  sunlight  wrought  no  change  in 
her  sentiments,  I  thus  secured  a  good  mother  for  my  little 
family,  and  for  myself  an  amiable  and  beloved  companion 
for  the  rest  of  my  days. 

Finding  everything  ready  for  our  departure  on  arriving 
at  Bristol,  we  embarked  immediately  and  set  forth  on  one 
of  the  longest  and  most  disagreeable  voyages  I  ever  expe 
rienced.  When  about  fifty  miles  at  sea  we  were  boarded 
and  inspected  by  a  French  frigate,  but  as  we  were  sailing 
in  an  American  bottom,  and  as,  too,  by  a  lucky  chance, 
the  commanding  officer,  having  resided  the  winter  before 
at  Boston,  recognized  with  great  friendliness  "  le  come- 
dien,"  we  were  suffered  to  pass  on  unmolested.  The  rest 
of  the  voyage  was  but  a  disagreeable  monotony  of  bad 
weather.  Owing  to  contrary  winds  we  ran  about  fifteen 
hundred  miles  farther  about  the  ocean  than  we  intended, 
and  it  was  not  until  after  a  fifty  days'  voyage,  when  both 
ourselves  and  our  provisions  were  pretty  well  exhausted, 
that,  on  the  25th  of  September,  1806,  we  at  last  reached 
the  harbor  of  Boston. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

1806. — Boston. — Mrs.  Stanley;  Compared  with  Mrs.  Abingdon  and  Miss 
Farren.  — Admiration.  —  Caulfield.  —  General  Humphrey's  Authorship. 
— "  Romeo  and  Juliet "  in  the  Backwoods. — A  Long  Song. — Mrs.  Jones's 
Death. —  Dr.  Jeffrey's  Youthful  Flight. —  Caulfield's  Singing. — An  Ac 
tor's  Temptation. — New  Version  of  Lord  Easting's  Speech. — Powell. — 
Fennell's  Salt-works. — A  Sermon  on  Patience. — Poe  and  Shaw. — Colored 
People. — Rival  Musicians. — Mr.Williams. — A  Lecturing  Tour. — Tragedy 
of  Real  Life. — Sally  Weeks. — Meeting  the  Devil. — A  Military  Money- 
taker. — Curious  "  Wiscasset"  Natives. — 1807. — Mr.  Cromwell. — A  The 
atrical  Impostor. — Jack  Hatton  the  Great  Blackguard. — Snow-storm  at 
Sea. — A  Visit  to  Philadelphia  and  New  York. — Serious  Illness. — Acting 
Under  Difficulties. — A  Cool  Duellist.— Captain  Dorgan. — Serious  Losses. 

Ox  our  arrival  in  Boston  I  found  a  residence  in  Pleas 
ant  Street  (a  strange  misnomer,  for  it  was  one  of  the  dull 
est  I  ever  inhabited),  collected  my  family  about  me,  and 
was  thus  once  more  "settled"  in  the  States.  The  thea 
tre  had  been  opened  about  a  fortnight  when  we  arrived, 
but  expectation  ran  so  high  with  respect  to  the  reinforce 
ments  I  was  bringing  that  very  little  had  been  done.  I 
congratulated  myself  afterwards  that  it  was  not  disap 
pointed.  Mrs.  Stanley*  (otherwise  the  Honorable  Mrs. 
Twisleton)  made  her  deMt  in  Elvira  to  the  Holla  of  Mr. 

*  As  the  Honorable  Mrs.  Twisleton,  Mrs.  STANLEY  was,  for  a  number  of 
years,  well  known,  in  aristocratic  circles  in  England,  as  an  amateur  actress. 
She  appeared  on  the  regular  stage,  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York, 
as  Mrs.  Stanley.  Her  success  in  America  was  never  very  great,  although 
she  was  beautiful  in  person  and  charming  in  manner.  She  may  be  con 
sidered  the  mother  of  the  large  family  of  professional  beauties  who  have 
become  professional  actresses.  She  died  early  in  this  century. 


MRS.  STANLEY. 
From  the  Pblyanth-ut,  Boston,  1806. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  285 

Caulfield.  To  this  singularly  accomplished  and  ill-fated 
actress  it  is  but  meet  that  I  should  devote  a  few  words  as 
to  one  who,  in  her  time,  excited  so  much  both  of  pleasure 
and  of  regret  in  the  minds  of  others.  Of  her  merits  only, 
however,  shall  I  speak  here — of  her  fate  hereafter. 

In  the  course  of  my  professional  career  it  was  my  chance 
to  see  three  elegant  actresses,  Mrs.  Abingdon,  Miss  Farren, 
and  Mrs.  Stanley.  The  first  showed  most  the  tone  of 
high  life  in  her  acting,  but  I  have  been  told  by  those  well 
competent  to  judge  that  this  was  chiefly  due  to  its  ease, 
dash,  and  animation.  The  second  was  perhaps  the  more 
fascinating,  her  chief  charm  being  an  easy  simplicity, 
combined  with  a  bewitching  playfulness;  but  the  third 
was  more  intuitively  elegant  than  either.  She  had  not 
the  vis  comica  of  Mrs.  Abingdon,  nor  the  fascination  of 
Miss  Farren,  but  then  she  had  the  manners — of  Mrs.  Stan 
ley.  In  one  respect,  indeed,  she  fell  far  short  of  her  rivals, 
for  her  voice  had  not  the  flexibility  or  music  of  either; 
but  in  another  point  again  she  surpassed  them — yes,  even 
surpassed  Miss  Farren! — in  her  person.  I  know  not  that 
her  features  were  as  regular  as  that  lady's,  but  their  ex 
pression  was  much  more  beautiful;  and  if  a  form,  rather 
exceeding  the  medium  height,  but  moulded  in  the  most 
symmetrical  proportions  and  perfect  in  every  respect  most 
insisted  upon  by  the  anatomical  connoisseur — if  this,  I  say, 
could  merit  to  be  called  loveliness,  then  might  Mrs.  Stan 
ley  claim  the  term. 

Any  similarity  which  might  be  traced  in  Mrs.  Abingdon 
and  Miss  Farren  when  performing  the  same  characters 
was  owing  rather  to  constitution  than  to  cultivation,  nat 
ure  having  cast  them  both  in  nearly  the  same  mould, 
though  art  had  wrought  great  differences;  but  between 
Mrs.  Abingdon  and  Mrs.  Stanley  there  were  few  if  any 
striking  points  of  resemblance.  The  first  was  the  more 
natural,  for  she  faithfully  depicted  life  as  it  was,  while 


286  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

the  other  had  the  exquisite  fault  of  attempting  to  show 
what  it  ought  to  be.  Her  chef-d'oeuvre  was  the  Widow 
Belmour;  her  rival's,  Lady  Betty  Modish;  but  a  more  op 
posite  contrast  cannot  be  selected  than  the  characters  of 
Lady  Townley  and  Lady  Grace,  with  which,  if  my  reader 
will  identify  Mrs.  Abingdon  and  Mrs.  Stanley,  he  will  per 
ceive  at  once  the  difference  of  their  styles  and  the  beau 
tiful  illustration  which  Gibber  intended  of  fashionable  and 
refined  life.  Both  actresses  enjoyed  intercourse  with  the 
higher  orders  of  society  in  England,  but  Mrs.  Stanley  was 
the  only  one  of  her  profession  that  was  ever  admitted  to 
the  Pump  Rooms  at  Bath,  a  distinction  which  many  of 
the  sisterhood  envied  and  sought  after,  but  none  other  at 
tained. 

Gaulfield*  was  very  well  received  in  America.  He  was 
by  no  means  an  original  actor,  since  he  plagiarized  from 
Kemble  and  others  in  the  same  manner  that  Harwood  did 
from  John  Bannister;  but  as  in  each  instance  this  was 
very  cleverly  done,  and  as  the  Americans  had  not  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  either  of  the  originals,  they  considered 
both  actors  to  be  not  only  very  good,  but  very  genuine. 
As  regards  little  Yining,  the  singer,  he  quite  answered  my 
expectations. 

As  soon  as  I  became  comfortably  settled  in  my  new 
residence  I  had  visits  and  invitations  from  all  quarters. 
To  a  friendly  summons  from  General  Humphreys — one  of 
the  most  sincere  and  valuable  friends  I  had  met  with  in 
the  States — I  attended  the  first.  This  gentleman,  in  addi 
tion  to  his  military  and  diplomatic  abilities,  had  also  dis 
tinguished  himself  in  the  region  of  poetry  and  the  drama. 
His  poems  are  well  known,  but  I  have  omitted  to  mention 
that  on  my  proceeding  to  England  I  took  with  me  a  com- 

*  Mr.  CAULFIELD  was  an  actor  of  general  utility,  good  in  everything,  but 
in  nothing  great.  He  appeared  at  the  Park  Theatre,  New  York,  during 
the  season  of  1813-14,  and  died  in  Cincinnati  in  the  following  year. 


MR.    CAULFIELD. 

From  Parson's  "  Minor  Theatre,"  London,  1794. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  287 

edy  of  his  writings  for  the  perusal  of  a  London  manager, 
which,  but  for  a  trivial  localism  in  the  plot,  had  sufficient 
merit  to  have  been  brought  before  the  public.  Many 
years  previously  he  had  produced  a  clever  tragedy  en 
titled  "  The  "Widow  of  Malabar."  At  his  table  I  met  with 
several  agreeable  people,  and  a  good  deal  of  original  anec 
dote  circulated. 

The  general  (who  was  an  ardent  lover  of  theatricals  and 
in  the  habit  of  dropping  in  to  an  entertainment  wherever 
he  met  with  one)  gave  us  an  amusing  account  of  an  ex 
hibition  at  which  he  had  been  present,  many  years  before, 
in  the  interior  of  Virginia. 

One  day,  seeing  a  play-bill  pasted  up  on  a  post  in  some 
village,  announcing  that  the  tragedy  of  "  Romeo  and  Ju 
liet  "  would  be  performed  in  the  evening,  at  the  Tavern 
Assembly  Rooms,  interspersed  with  a  variety  of  music  and 
dancing,  the  whole  to  conclude  with  "the  celebrated  song 
of  'Yankee  Doodle,'"  he  could  not  resist  the  opportunity 
of  attending  and  becoming  acquainted  with  the  state  of 
theatricals  in  the  back  countries.  The  price  of  admission 
was  very  low,  but  when  he  entered  he  found  only  about 
twenty  people  assembled,  sitting  on  chairs  and  benches 
before  the  dirty  green  rag  which  hung  across  the  room 
at  the  other  end  to  conceal  the  dramatic  paraphernalia. 
The  band  consisted  of  a  man  with  a  drum  and  a  little  boy 
with  a  "  wry-necked  fife,"  who  prefaced  the  entertainment 
by  playing  a  not  very  melodious  tune.  The  tragedy  then 
commenced.  As  the  curtain  drew  up,  discovering,  for 
scenery,  a  very  mean  chamber,  Romeo  came  forward  alone, 
and  began  repeating  what  from  its  length  and  character 
was  evidently  two  or  three  dozen  speeches  compounded 
into  one,  pretending  during  the  recital  to  address  himself 
in  turn  to  the  different  personages  who  ought  to  have 
been  with  him  on  the  stage.  This  rather  original  idea 
proved  not  a  very  satisfactory  one  to  the  audience,  and  at 


288  RETROSPECTIONS  OFa  AMERICA. 

length  finding  this  to  be  the  case,  he  very  abruptly  broke 
oil  his  speech  and  broke  into  a  hornpipe,  to  which  the  fife 
set  up  an  ear -piercing  accompaniment.  After  getting 
himself  into  a  thorough  perspiration  with  this  exercise,  he 
shuffled  off,  with  about  as  little  elegance  as  it  could  be 
supposed  that  a  Romeo  could  display. 

Juliet  now  made  her  appearance  at  the  opposite  side, 
and  went  through  a  scene  solus  in  exactly  similar  style 
to  that  of  her  lover.  The  audience  were  thus,  at  length, 
made  fully  aware  of  the  singular  fact  that  Romeo  and  Ju 
liet  were  not  only  the  principal  actors  in  this  tragedy,  but 
on  the  present  occasion  were  the  only  ones.  Juliet's  con 
versations  with  invisible  companions  being,  however,  also 
too  mysterious  and  imaginative  for  the  spectators,  in  ad 
dition  to  being  slightly  prolix,  they  manifested  fresh  signs 
of  impatience.  The  lady  was  equal  to  the  occasion,  for, 
taking  the  hint  at  once,  and  quitting  blank  verse  for 
rhyme,  she  soared  into  a  song,  which,  though  very  gen 
teel,  was,  for  the  greater  relief  after  previous  tediousness, 
executed  with  such  rapidity  that  the  drum  and  fife  (ras 
cally  attendants  on  such  sweet  sounds)  followed  after  at 
some  distance  with  what  should  have  been  the  accompani 
ments,  thumping  and  squeaking  with  all  their  might  in 
vain  attempts  to  overtake  the  fair  singer.  On  reaching 
the  end  of  her  own  part  of  this  performance  she  made  her 
exit,  like  the  swran,  in  the  midst  of  melody,  leaving  the 
farmers  an  interval  in  which  they  might  "  calculate  "  the 
degree  of  merit  she  had  displayed.  Thus  concluded  the 
first  act.  In  the  second  the  interest  might  fairly  be  said 
to  double,  seeing  that  the  two  performers  came  on  the 
stage  together  instead  of  singly,  Romeo  leading  Juliet  for 
ward  as  though  to  bear  witness  of  the  truth  of  the  story 
which  he  then  pithily  epitomized  for  the  enlightenment 
of  the  audience,  telling  how  they  two  had  fallen  in  love 
with  each  other,  and  so  into  trouble  also,  and  how  that 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  289 

they  were  very  unfortunate,  and  had,  therefore,  made  up 
their  minds  that  as  they  couldn't  live  with  each  other 
they  were  resolved  to  die  with  each  other.  This  appeal 
to  the  sympathies  and  sensibilities  of  the  audience  was 
not  in  vain,  for  eyes  began  to  be  rubbed  and  noses  blown 
to  some  purpose.  Then,  at  length,  monologue  became  dia 
logue,  and  speech  rose  into  action  at  the  parting  of  the 
lovers  previous  to  their  commission  of  the  dreadful  act  of 
self-destruction,  which,  being  found  to  be  affecting  in  the 
extreme,  was  protracted  for  about  half  an  hour,  while  they 
blubbered  together  like  hungry  children  crying  for  bread 
and  butter,  and  uttered  with  every  variety  of  pathetic 
emphasis  a  long  catalogue  of  ohs!  ahs!  and  alases!  duly 
chorused  by  the  pitying  spectators. 

The  "  last  scene  of  all "  that  came  to  close  "  tfcis  strange, 
eventful  history,"  was  a  truly  horrifying  one,  for  when 
the  curtain  drew  up  it  discovered  the  unhappy  lovers  ly 
ing  dead  on  the  stage  locked  in  each  other's  arms.  Now, 
it  being  believed  that  the  performers  enacting  Romeo  and 
Juliet  were  bona  fide  man  and  wife,  what  would  have 
seemed  to  them  otherwise  the  indelicacy  of  such  an  ex 
hibition  did  not  shock  the  worthy  rustics,  but  this  only 
left  them  the  more  freely  and  fully  under  the  influence 
of  its  intense  lachrymoseness.  The  drum  and  fife,  too, 
were  all  the  while  exciting  and  keeping  up  the  dismalness 
of  the  scene  by  playing  throughout  some  dead  march  or 
shrieking  dirge,  shrill  enough  to  have  buried  a  wind  with, 
and  which  quite  answered  the  desired  end. 

The  audience  were  suffered  to  gaze  on  this  spectacle — 
or  rather  upon  this  pair  of  spectacles — for  a  period  of 
about  ten  minutes,  when  the  curtain  closed  down  upon 
the  unfortunate  bodies,  in  the  imaginations  of  most  pres 
ent  cutting  them  off  henceforth  from  the  world  as  com 
pletely  as  though  it  had  been  a  coffin  lid.  Some  in  the 
room,  however,  either  less  deeply  affected  or  imbued  with 

13 


290  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

truer  spirits — rough-coated  patriots  with  sound  cores,  who 
felt  that  let  who  will  die  the  country  survives — began  to 
kick  on  the  floor  and  call  loudly  in  a  fit  of  enthusiasm  for 
the  national  song  with  which  it  had  been  announced  the 
whole  was  to  terminate.  Obedient  to  their  summons  Ro 
meo  forthwith  ran  forward  and  bowed,  to  the  great  sur 
prise  and  severe  disappointment  of  the  damsels,  at  least, 
who  had  given  him  credit  for  being  really  dead,  but 
whose  smiling  appearance  gave  proof  that  his  ten  min 
utes'  nap  on  the  floor  had  rather  tended  to  the  invigora- 
tion  of  his  faculties  than  their  dissolution.  The  band 
striking  up  briskly  with  the  tune,  he  began  his  ditty,  sang 
twenty  verses  through  without  stopping  (repeating  every 
second  verse  again),  then  drawing  his  breath  went  on  for 
another  fifteen,  but  with  rather  less  spirit;  halted  again 
to  take  in  a  fresh  atmospheric  supply,  then,  but  with  diffi 
culty,  added  another  ten,  making  in  all  forty-five.  Here 
he  appeared  perfectly  exhausted,  in  memory  as  well  as 
windpipe,  and  it  was  only  after  making  two  or  three  pan- 
tomimical  gesticulations  that  he  found  sufficient  air  in  his 
bellows  (as  Voltaire  vulgarly  calls  it)  and  sufficient  words 
in  his  cranium  to  acquaint  the  audience  that  that  was  all 
he  knew  of  the  song,  but  that  if  they  would  like  to  have 
any  more,  his  wife  (the  dead  Juliet  behind  the  scenes) 
would  come  on  with  pleasure  and  favor  them  with  seven 
ty-three  verses  more. 

This  information  had  an  electrical  effect  upon  the  whole 
body  spectatorial.  Love  of  country  and  love  of  song 
alike  fled  before  it.  If  a  dead  lover  could  get  through 
forty-five  verses  with  so  much  spirit,  thought  they,  a  re 
suscitated  woman  with  seventy-three  more  was  beyond 
what  mortal  patience  could  endure.  Romeo  could  not 
have  given  them  a  better  hint  to  "  avaunt"  for,  hardly 
staying  to  say,  "  No,  thank  you,"  they  clapped  their  hats 
on  their  heads  and  their  damsels  under  their  arms,  and 
departed  from  the  room  with  the  utmost  expedition. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  291 

It  was  with  great  expectations  that  I  had  embarked  my 
capital  in  the  Boston  Theatre,*  for  Powell  had  cleared 
during  the  preceding  season  upward  of  ten  thousand  dol 
lars,  and  I  had  most  potential  friends  in  the  city  to  sup 
port  me  both  as  an  actor  and  a  manager.  The  season 
began  prosperously  enough,  holding  out  great  prospects 
of  success  before  its  close;  but  ere  three  months  had 
rolled  over  our  heads  it  seemed  as  though  misfortune, 
owing  me  a  grudge  perhaps  for  my  previous  ten  years' 
successes,  had  determined  to  overtake  me.  The  Embargo 
and  Non-importation  acts  coming  into  force,  Boston,  as  a 
great  commercial  seaport,  was  at  once  vitally  affected. 
Trade  was  checked,  the  amount  of  money  in  circulation 
diminished,  bankruptcies  became  general,  living  grew  dear, 
and  families  of  all  ranks  were  obliged  to  retrench.  That 
superabundance  of  cash  which,  when  it  was  plenti 
ful,  had  been  devoted  to  amusement,  forming  now  but 
part  of  a  mere  sufficiency  to  pay  necessary  expenses,  was, 
as  it  were,  drawn  out  of  our  treasury.  The  theatre,  de 
pendent  as  it  was  upon  a  state  of  circumstances  similar  to 
those  of  preceding  years,  was,  of  course,  importantly  af 
fected  by  the  change.  For  that  winter  our  prospects 
were  entirely  ruined;  nor  was  the  shock  recovered  from 
to  any  beneficial  extent  for  the  four  succeeding  ones  dur 
ing  which  I  was  connected  with  this  theatre. 

Since,  from  the  above  causes,  the  public  were  less  ready 
to  support  us  than  they  had  heretofore  been,  we  were 
obliged  to  put  forth  as  much  novelty  as  possible  in  our 
performances.  " Cinderella" — the  scenery  and  machin 
ery  for  which,  as  I  have  mentioned,  I  had  brought  with 
me  at  a  great  expense  from  London — was  a  sure  card  for 

*  The  Boston  Theatre,  on  Federal  Street,  was  built  in  1794.  It  was  de 
stroyed  by  fire,  and,  being  rebuilt  in  1798,  remained  the  most  important 
theatre  in  Boston  until  the  opening  of  the  Trcmont  Theatre  in  1827.  It 
was  finally  demolished  in  1852. 


292  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

the  close  of  the  season.  In  addition  we  had  some  come 
dies  and  farces  in  rehearsal,  which,  from  the  strength  of 
our  corps,  we  could  cast  very  effectively,  especially  as 
we  received  two  or  three  accessions  to  our  company. 
Among  these  I  must  mention  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Usher,  both 
clever  people,  though  little  known.  The  theatre,  too,  at 
this  time  had  an  excellent  friend  in  R.  T.  Paine,  Esq., 
whose  dramatic  critiques  were  looked  upon  as  the  oracles 
of  the  day,  and  who  lent  his  aid  very  efficiently  in  direct 
ing  public  attention  to  the  well-founded  claims  we  put 
forth  for  support.  We  were  accustomed  to  say  that 
"  whenever  one  of  our  stage  pieces  went  off,  the  audience 
felt  the  flash,  and  Paine  made  the  report. 

I  heard  at  this  time  of  the  death,  at  New  York,  of  that 
clever  actress,  Mrs.  Jones,  whom  I  had  engaged  to  Mr. 
Harris  at  a  salary  of  £10  a  week  and  upward  for  three 
years.  She  was  a  better  comedian  of  the  style  of  Mrs. 
Jordan  than  any  I  had  seen  in  London.  A  letter  was 
forwarded  to  me  which  she  had  written  to  me  when  she 
found  that  her  illness  was  assuming  a  fatal  aspect,  tender 
ing  me  her  thanks  for  my  interference  in  her  behalf,  now 
frustrated  by  her  untimely  decease,  and  begging  me  not 
to  forget  her  children,  her  husband  having  died  a  month 
or  two  previous  in  that  theatrical  burial-place,  Charleston. 
In  conjunction  with  my  partners  I  accordingly  gave  the 
little  orphans  a  benefit,  the  receipts  from  which  yielded 
$760;  and,  as  a  proof  of  the  great  estimation  in  which 
this  fascinating  actress  was  held  throughout  the  States, 
benefits  were  also  accorded  to  her  children  at  New  York, 
Charleston,  and  Philadelphia. 

Fennell  now  arrived  in  Boston  on  a  visit,  avowedly  to 
see  some  salt-works  near  Portsmouth,  but  he  hinted  to 
several  friends  a  wish  to  perform.  What  a  whirligig, 
weathercock  fellow  was  that  Fennell  !  I  told  him  that  it 
was  lucky  for  him  he  had  such  a  spouse  as  the  profession 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  293 

to  furnish  him  with  funds,  when  he  had  so  many  mistress 
es  in  his  speculative  fancies  to  squander  them  away  upon. 
I  met  him  at  a  party  at  the  house  of  my  friend  and  medi 
cal  attendant,  Dr.  Jeifries,  the  gentleman  who  years  be 
fore  had  crossed  from  Dover  to  Calais  in  a  balloon,  in 
company  with  a  French  emigrant.  Whenever  this  cir 
cumstance  was  recalled,  the  doctor  used  to  shake  his  head 
good  -  humoredly,  and  reply:  "Ah,  of  all  my  youthful 
flightinesses,  that  is  the  only  flight  of  which  I  am  ashamed 
to  be  reminded." 

About  Christmas,  when  the  theatres  in  the  States,  even 
during  prosperous  seasons,  do  little  more  than  pay  their 
expenses,  Cooper  arrived  in  town  from  New  York,  where 
he  was  now  manager,  on  purpose  to  engage  Mrs.  Stanley. 
He  proposed  playing  six  nights  at  Boston  for  a  benefit, 
and  my  proceeding  to  ISTew  York  to  do  the  like,  to  wrhich 
I  agreed,  and  accordingly  he  opened  in  Hamlet  at  my 
house  the  same  night  that  I  did  in  Lord  Ogleby  at  his 
theatre.  The  exchange,  I  think,  answered  the  expecta 
tions  of  both  parties.  On  rny  return  to  Boston  I  found 
that  Caulfield  had  not  played  during  Cooper's  nights,  and 
on  inquiry  learned  that  this  was  due  to  two  causes — his 
love  of  his  profession,  which  would  not  suffer  him  to  ac 
knowledge  the  dramatic  superiority  of  another,  and  his 
love  of  company,  which  was  beginning  to  render  him  re 
gardless  of  anything  else,  even  of  this  very  profession. 
This  was  very  injurious  both  to  himself  and  his  manager, 
but  it  was  hardly  surprising,  for  Caulfield  was  specially 
qualified  to  render  himself  agreeable  at  table.  He  was  a 
good  mimic  and  a  humorist;  his  memory  abounded  with 
facetious  anecdotes  both  of  the  stage  and  of  private  life, 
and  he  had  a  pleasant,  mellow-toned  voice  that  wras  heard 
to  great  advantage  in  a  chamber.  There  was,  indeed,  a 
spirit  and  an  expression  in  his  singing  rarely  to  be  met 
with,  and  which  rendered  his  Anacreontic  songs,  in  par- 


294  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

ticular,  very  charming.  On  one  occasion  I  remember  he 
especially  surprised  and  delighted  me  during  our  voyage, 
when  we  were  driven  by  adverse  winds  into  the  Bay  of 
Biscay  and  there  becalmed  for  several  days.  One  beauti 
ful,  still,  moonlight  evening,  when  we  were  all  on  deck 
enjoying  the  scene,  watching  the  shores  of  France  in  the 
distance  and  the  white  sails  here  and  there  dancing  in  the 
moonbeams,  Caulfield  suddenly  sprang  forward  and  be 
gan  that  favorite  sea-song  which  took  its  title  from  the 
place  where  we  lay — "  The  Bay  of  Biscay."  I  had  heard 
Incledon  and  several  other  celebrities  sing  it  before,  but 
whether  it  was  from  the  circumstance  of  the  locality  and 
the  train  of  feelings  aroused  by  the  scene,  or,  as  I  am  in 
clined  to  believe,  far  more  from  the  exquisite  expression 
Caulfield  threw  into  the  song,  I  was  never  before  so  af 
fected  by  a  piece  of  music.  When  he  had  finished,  Mrs. 
Stanley  turned  to  me  with  a  smile  and  observed  :  "  If  Mr, 
Caulfield  can  speak  on  the  stage  as  well  as  he  sings  here, 
you  have  indeed  a  valuable  acquisition." 

When  we  landed  in  Boston  I  was  induced,  for  the  above 
reasons,  to  take  Caulfield  with  me  on  the  first  club  night, 
to  the  "St.  Cecilia,"  a  musical  society  which  I  had  been 
instrumental  in  founding,  and  where  he  became  a  great 
favorite  with  all  the  members.  Unhappily,  however,  what 
was  intended  for  his  benefit  had  an  injurious  effect.  In 
troduced  into  better  society  than  he  had  ever  been  accus 
tomed  to  in  his  own  country;  finding  money,  wine,  and 
amusement  abundant,  his  head  grew  giddy  with  pleasure 
and  success;  and  wanting  judgment  to  impose  restraint 
upon  indulgence,  he,  by  degrees,  grew  indifferent  to  his 
professional  duties  and  forgetful  of  the  respect  he  owed 
both  to  the  public  and  to  himself.  I  have  mentioned  this 
particularly  in  order  that  I  may  remark,  from  my  own 
experience  in  America,  that  the  fate  of  Caulfield  is  but 
an  instance  of  that  of  half  the  profession  besides,  who 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  295 

have  come  over  and  died  in  the  very  prime  and  vigor  of 
their  lives,  owing  to  having  given  way  to  pernicious  hab 
its.  It  is  wholly  unknown  and.  unimagined  in  England 
how  vast  a  number  of  meritorious  actors  have,  within  this 
last  twenty  years,  mingled  their  dust  with  the  soil  of  the 
American  States.  I  do  not  speak  of  performers  who  have 
appeared  in  the  metropolis  and  thus  become  partially 
known  to  the  British  public  in  general;  but  I  allude  sole 
ly  to  those  who  have  poured  over  from  Bristol,  Liverpool, 
and  Ireland,  young  and  unknown  in  the  profession,  and 
who,  after  careering  for  a  limited  hour  indeed  of  success, 
have  been  gathered  untimely  into  "the  tomb  of  all  the 
Capulets." 

But  to  return  to  Caulfield.  As  Mrs.  Stanley  wished  to 
perform  Jane  Shore  as  one  of  her  tragic  characters  at 
Boston,  I  had  given  him  the  part  of  Lord  Hastings  to 
studv  during  our  passage.  Supposing,  therefore,  that  at 
this  late  day  he  must  be  quite  prepared,  we,  without  hesi 
tation,  announced  that  tragedy  as  soon  as  I  returned  from 
New  York.  Much  to  our  surprise  we  found  that  he  knew 
little  or  nothing  of  the  character,  and  came  to  a  distress 
ing  standstill  in  several  passages.  When  left  to  his  solil 
oquy  at  Gloster's  exit,  he  remembered  but  a  line  here  and 
there  of  that  admirable  climax,  and  began  with  a  deal  of 
solemn,  slow  pomposity,  in  order  most  likely  to  give  him 
self  time  to  recollect.  The  scene  went  on  something  as 
follows : 

CAULFIELD. — "I — know — the — Duke — is  (to  theprompt- 
er)— what  ?" 

PROMPTER. — [whispering'] :  "  Noble." 

CAULFIELD. — "Noble  f — noble  (to  the  prompter) ;  well  ?" 

PROMPTER. — "  But  he  touched  me — " 

CAULFIELD. — "  But  he  touched  me  (to  the  prompter)  ; 
where?" 

PROMPTER. — "  On  the  tenderest  point — " 


296  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

CAULFIELD. — "  On  the  tenderest  part — no !  point." 

PROMPTER. — "  The  master  string — " 

CAULFIELD. — "The  master's  string  —  the  string  —  the 
master — that  makes  music — music — master — " 

Here  the  prompter  grew  bewildered,  and  Caulfield,  in 
a  fit  of  inspiration  continued: 

"Music  —  music  has  charms  to  soothe  —  the  Duke  — 
d — n  him ! — here  he  comes  again."  [Exit  in  a  hurry. 

Charles  Powell,  my  old  Taunton  acquaintance,  and  the 
original  Boston  manager,  came  to  me  on  a  visit  from  Hali 
fax,  where  he  had  established  a  theatre  under  the  patron 
age  of  II.  K.  H.  the  Duke  of  Kent,  and  played  a  few 
parts,  in  which  he  was  well  received.  When  he  dined 
with  me  we  had  a  pleasant  conversation  upon  past  times 
when  we  had  spouted  and  strolled  together  in  the  reckless 
but  ambitious  days  of  boyhood.  As  he  was  dwelling  on 
his  present  matrimonial  felicity  I  asked  him  if  he  remem 
bered  the  first  "  bone  of  his  bone  "  whom  he  had  taken 
unto  himself  about  thirty  years  previously,  and  whose 
former  name  had  been  Mrs.  Skin.  "Flesh  and  blood, 
Jack"  (his  favorite  oath),  "to  be  sure  I  do,"  was  his  ap 
propriate  reply. 

_  For  a  month  after  Christmas  a  great  deal  of  domestic 
amusement  was  going  forward  in  Boston — parties,  balls, 
and  concerts — and  the  theatre  suffered  in  consequence; 
but  this  was  inevitable.  I,  too,  had  a  variety  of  invita 
tions  ;  among  others  one  to  the  British  consul's,  Mr.  A. 
Allen,  where  I  was  introduced  to  General  Sheaf  (who 
afterwards  rendered  me  many  attentions  in  Canada)  and 
shook  hands  with  Mrs.  Morton,  the  poetess.  When  the 
conversation  turned  on  professional  topics  Fennell  was 
spoken  of,  and  in  a  strain  which  informed  me  that  he  was 
in  request,  though  I  knew  at  the  same  time  that  the  pub 
lic  were  less  desirous  of  supporting  him  than  formerly. 
A  few  days  after,  on  receiving  a  letter  from  him  propos- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  297 

ing  an  engagement,  we  concluded  one  with  Lira  on  safe 
terms  for  a  limited  number  of  nights.  His  present  appli 
cation  was  caused  by  his  complete  embarrassment  at  New 
London,  where  his  salt  works  had  again  failed  in  toto. 
This  was  the  fourth  of  his  salt  speculations  that  had  fallen 
to  the  ground,  yet  he  seemed  to  deny  by  his  conduct  the 
truth  of  the  old  saying  that  "experience  teaches."  There 
was,  I  thought,  a  species  of  lunacy  in  this,  for  the  folly  of 
undertaking  such  schemes  did  not  appear  more  obvious 
than  the  madness  of  continuing  them;  and  the  ingenious 
scheme  he  devised  to  escape  from  the  difficulties  in  which 
they  had  involved  him  would  hardly  perhaps  be  accepted 
as  a  proof  of  perfect  sanity.  When  I  asked  him  how  he 
had  contrived  to  pacify  his  creditors  at  New  London,  he 
related  to  me  that  on  the  Sabbath  before  he  quitted  the 
salt  works  —  as  they  were  getting  clamorous  for  their 
money — he  invited  them  all  to  assemble  there  to  hear 
him  deliver  a  discourse,  promising  that  the  doctrine  there 
in  set  forth  would  be  very  much  to  their  satisfaction  as 
well  as  his  own.  The  congregation,  though  consisting 
merely  of  his  creditors,  proved  to  be  a  very  large  one. 
He  met  them  at  the  appointed  time,  and  taking  up  his 
station  at  a  point  where  he  was  conspicuous  to  all,  he 
gave  forth  the  text  which  he  was  about  to  expound  : 
"Have  patience  and  I  will  pay. you  all."  This  he  divided 
into  two  heads — first,  and  most  importantly — the  virtue 
of  patience ;  lastly  and  ref erentially — the  act  of  paying. 
On  this  no  doubt  his  auditors  formed  two  conclusions: 
first,  that  to  display  the  virtue  of  patience  might  be  the 
best  religion,  but,  secondly,  that  the  act  of  paying  was 
the  most  applicable  to  trade;  and  considering  themselves 
primarily  men  of  business  they  would  regard  the  latter 
point  (with  all  due  deference  to  Fennell's  opinion)  as 
direct  instead  of  referential,  and  by  far  the  more  impor 
tant  of  the  two.  However,  he  proceeded  with  his  exposi- 


298  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

tion,  placing  patience  at  the  head  of  the  cardinal  vir 
tues,  and  giving  it  the  pre-eminence  over  every  quality 
which  can  adorn  a  man's  character,  every  feeling  which 
can  animate  his  bosom;  after  eulogizing  and  apostrophiz 
ing,  commending  and  recommending  it  with  all  the  glow 
ing  words  and  most  beautiful  images  his  florid  fancy  and 
learned  brain  could  suggest  (though  from  the  uneasy  man 
ner  in  which  his  auditors  all  listened  the  doctrine  was  evi 
dently  doing  very  little  for  their  conversion),  he  at  length 
came  to  the  second  and  far  more  attractive  division  of  the 
text,  "  I  will  pay  you  all."  Pronouncing  these  words  with 
much  emphasis,  he  looked  them  all  in  the  face  for  a  few 
moments  in  silence,  then  deliberately  added,  "but  not 
being  prepared  to  treat  upon  this  point  at  present,  I  must 
defer  the  opportunity  until  it  shall  please  Providence  and 
the  Boston  managers  to  afford  me  another — "  saying  which 
he  turned  upon  his  heel  and  hurried  from  the  spot. 

As  I  expected,  his  coming  to  the  theatre  was  of  no  ma 
terial  benefit  either  to  himself  or  the  management. 

During  the  season  we  were  joined  by  Miss  Arnold,*  a 
clever  little  actress  and  singer  who  had  lately  married  a 
Mr.  Poe,  whom  we  also  engaged.  There  were  a  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Shaw  in  the  company  at  the  time,  and  it  was  a  stand 
ing  jest  for  these  two  couples  to  retort  on  each  other  by 
the  use  of  their  respective  names — "Poh-Poh  !"  "Pshaw- 
Pshaw !" 

"Bachelors'  Hall,"  the  residence  of  some  spirited,  so 
ciable  young  men  of  that  day,  in  Boston,  became  this  win 
ter  the  scene  of  much  mirth  and  conviviality.  I  attended 
two  or  three  of  their  meetings  in  celebration  of  the  pleas- 

*  Mrs.  POE  was  a  beautiful  English  actress,  who,  as  Elizabeth  Arnold, 
fascinated  David  Foe,  Jr.,  a  law  student  in  Baltimore.  Her  husband 
abandoned  his  profession  for  hers.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Poe  acted  together  for 
several  years.  They  died  young  and  in  poverty  at  Richmond,  leaving  three 
children,  the  second  of  whom  was  Edgar  Allan  Poc. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  299 

ures  of  celibacy,  and  to  make  merry  over  the  miseries  of 
matrimony,  whereupon  some  of  my  worthy  friends  used 
to  remark  that  I  (being  a  married  man,  and  so  happy  a 
one)  came  there  for  my  bane  and  went  home  for  my  anti 
dote. 

I  really  think,  however,  that  the  greatest  amusement  I 
had  in  Boston  was  derived  from  the  colored  people,  as 
they  call  the  free  blacks,  who  mostly  keep  shops,  or  are- 
waiters  in  gentlemen's  houses.  What  particularly  distin 
guishes  them  is  their  ridiculous  contempt  for  those  of  their 
own  color  who  happen  to  be  slaves,  and  their  continual 
imitation  in  manners  and  sayings  of  the  white  people,  with 
whom  they  affect  to  be  upon  an  equality.  Delayed  in  the 
street  one  day  by  some  stoppage,  I  perceived,  on  turning 
round,  a  couple  of  colored  people  at  my  elbow.  The  ele 
gant  pomposity  and  affectation  of  breeding  which  they 
assumed  towards  each  other  pleasantly  contrasted  with 
their  version  of  the  English  language.  "  Ah,  Massa  Fred 
erick,"  said  the  first  speaker,  "  how  a  your  honor  do  a-day?" 
"Mosh  obliged,  Sharley,  berry  well,"  was  the  reply,  "got 
um  catch-cold,  dat's  all."  "How  you  lady,  Massa  Fred 
erick  ?"  "  Missee  Frederick  ?  oh,  she'm  beautiful,  so  mosh 
you  never  can  tink — she  berry  mosh  so."  "And  how  you 
little  shild,  Massa  Frederick  ?"  "  Oh,  she  charming;  I  tank 
you  one  thousand  time — she'm  dead/" 

On  another  occasion  two  ladies  of  this  race  met  under 
my  window  and  began  their  usual  bombastic  greetings 
with — "  Miss  Marie  Caroline  Henrietta,  how  your  honor 
do  dis  day?"  "I  was,  tank  you,  Miss  Charlotte  Teresa," 
replied  her  friend,  "I  was  among  de  middlinV  "Yes," 
rejoined  the  other,  "  so  Long  Peter  say,  you  very  middlin' 
indeed."  The  emphasis  with  which  this  was  pronounced 
raised  the  ire  of  the  dark  beauty,  who  forthwith  declared, 
"Long  Peter  betta  pay  him  debt  afore  um  'buse  a  lady 
what  have  been  so  good  to  him  as  me  have !"  "  You  good 


300  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

to  my  Peter,"  exclaimed  her  rival  in  equal  wrath — "  den 
may  devil  take  un  bote  !"  By  this  time  a  mob  had  drawn 
together  to  hear  this  scolding-match  between  the  tender 
black  virgins,  which  soon  rose  to  a  pitch  no  language  but 
their  own  could  describe.  After  the  duel  had  continued 
for  some  time,  Miss  Teresa  gave  a  decisive  blow  by  utter 
ing  a  philippic  of  at  least  a  minute's  length,  with  such 
severity  and  so  rapidly  that  it  fairly  took  .a  way  the  breath 
of  Miss  Marie  and  struck  her  nearly  speechless.  At  length, 
recovering  a  little,  she  seemed  to  put  away  her  anger  in  a 
moment,  and  looking  her  adversary  full  in  the  face,  made 
her  a  very  low  courtesy,  said  quite  quietly,  "  I  dank  you, 
madam,  I  owes  you  won,"  and  walked  slowly  away. 

As  the  spring  advanced  I  thought  that  a  summer  resi 
dence  a  few  miles  out  of  Boston  would  prove  agreeable, 
so  drove  my  wife  out  to  look  at  a  little  seat  near  Dor 
chester,  which  was  for  sale,  and  which  we  so  highly  ap 
proved  of  that  I  at  once  arranged  for  its  purchase. 

The  management  at  this  time  consented  to  give  a  night 
to  the  proprietors  for  the  purpose  of  commencing  a  fund 
for  lunatics.  A  good  deal  of  pleasantry  was  excited  on 
this  occasion.  Fennell,  the  greatest  madman  of  whom  I 
had  any  knowledge,  spoke  an  ode  to  madness  in  very  fine 
style,  wrhich  some  attributed  to  sympathy;  but  Caulfield 
was  absent,  on  which  Treat  Paine*  remarked  that  "he 


*  ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE,  Jr.,  born  in  Taunton,  Massachusetts,  in  1773, 
was  the  second  son  and  namesake  of  the  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence.  After  some  experiences  as  a  merchant,  and  later  as  a  lawyer, 
he  became  infatuated  with  the  theatre,  and  determined  to  devote  himself 
entirely  to  the  drama  and  to  dramatic  literature.  lie  Avas  appointed 
"  Master  of  Ceremonies  "  to  the  Boston  Theatre,  then  a  salaried  position, 
and  in  1795  married  a  Miss  Bokcr,  an  English  actress,  and  a  member  of 
the  Boston  Theatre  Company.  By  this  step  he  lost  his  social  position, 
•which  had  been  a  high-  one,  and  became  estranged  from  his  family.  He 
lived  latterly  a  reckless  life,  and  died  in  1811,  a  comparatively  young  man. 


ROBERT   TREAT   PAINE,  JR. 

After  an  engraving  published  by  Joshua  Belcher,  Boston,  1812. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  301 

was  deranged  indeed,  for  this  negligence  might  exclude 
him  from  the  benefit  of  the  institution." 

To  my  musical  friends  and  the  members  of  the  St.  Ce 
cilia  I  gave  my  concert  at  the  conclusion  of  the  season, 
which  was  numerously  attended.  General  Sheaf  even 
honored  us  by  taking  up  the  flute  and  performing  several 
pieces  with  great  taste  and  execution.  A  Mr. Von  Hagen, 
a  German  of  no  small  musical  talent,  presided  at  the  piano. 
He  was  at  this  time  organist  at  the  Episcopal  Church,  and 
held  in  general  estimation;  though,  soon  afterwards  fall 
ing  into  irregular  habits,  he  lost  both  his  friends  and  his 
situation.  Our  leader  in  the  orchestra  was  a  Monsieur 
Mallet,  an  artiste,  as  he  called  himself,  of  not  very  striking 
ability,  although,  as  in  most  such  cases,  inclined  to  think 
the  contrary  himself.  Von  Hagen,  meeting  him  one  day 
in  the  street,  held  out  his  hand  to  him,  and  observed,  with 
a  good-humored  smile: 

"  I  vas  go  to  the  theatre  lasht  night,  Heister  Mallet,  to 
hear  your  new  muzeek." 

"  Eh  bien"  said  the  Frenchman,  "  and  how  vas  you 
pleased,  sare  ?" 

"  You  was  one  great  composer,"  continued  Von  Hagen. 
"  You  zet  all  the  beoples  ashleep  !  aha !" 

Mr.  Mallet,  starting  from  him  with  some  indignation  at 
such  a  witticism,  retorted,  as  he  thought,  with  this  unin 
tentional  compliment : 

"  You  vas  much  vorse,  Monsieur  Von  Hagen,  aha  !  much 
vorse.  I  was  go  to  ze  shursh  ze  oder  day  to  hear  you  play 
von  voluntary,  and  ven  I  vanted  to  go  to  sleep,  aha ! — by 
gar — you — vould  not  let  me  !" 

He  was  a  brilliant  writer,  and  published  most  of  his  best  work  under  his 
own  name,  Thomas  Paine.  But  in  1801,  to  avoid  being  confounded  with, 
and  by,  the  author  of  the  "  Age  of  Reason,"  he  petitioned  the  Legislature 
of  Massachusetts  to  be  allowed  to  call  himself  Robert  Treat  Paine,  Jr.,  on 
the  ground  that  "  Tom  Paine  was  not  a  Christian  name." 


302  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

The  benefits  now  commenced,  and  went  off  with  gen 
eral  success.  Mrs.  Stanley,  by  agreement,  had  two,  one 
nominal  and  another  in  the  regular  course.  Caulfield,  not 
withstanding  his  truantism,  had  a  very  fair  one;  as  did 
Fox  and  Dickenson;  Mrs.  Powell  once  more  drew  a  bill 
on  the  public  which  they  never  failed  to  honor;  and  I  my 
self  netted  $1000,  some  compensation  as  an  actor  for  the 
losses  which  I  had  sustained  throughout  the  season  as  a 
manager.  In  despite  of  the  various  novelties  we  had 
brought  forward  and  the  very  effective  condition  of  the 
company,  "  Cinderella  "  was  the  only  piece  which  repaid 
the  expense  of  its  production,  the  public,  for  reasons  al 
ready  mentioned,  finding  themselves  unable,  rather  than 
unwilling,  to  yield  us  the  support  we  merited. 

As  I  knew  circumstances  would  not  permit  me  to  pass 
the  whole  of  the  summer  at  "  The  Lodge,"  as  I  called  my 
new  residence,  I  thought  of  again  visiting  the  north  of 
New  England  on  a  lecturing  tour,  and  arranged  with  Caul- 
field  to  accompany  me,  his  style  of  singing  and  recitation 
rendering  him  a  desirable  coadjutor.  The  limit  of  our 
journey  was  to  be  Wiscasset,  the  extremest  seaport  of 
Maine,  a  part  of  the  country  over  which  I  had  travelled 
before.  Our  first  halt  was  at  ISTewburg  Park,  where  I 
made  out  a  bill  containing  many  "provocatives"  (to  use 
a  theatrical  term),  and  where  our  expectations  were  well 
answered.  Passing  on  to  Portsmouth,  I  stayed  with  Mrs. 
Bernard  at  the  residence  of  my  friend,  M.  Casso,  the  French 
consul,  who  narrated  to  me  some  incidents  which  had  late 
ly  occurred  in  the  town,  and  the  simple  pathos  of  which 
deeply  impressed  me. 

Sally  Weeks,  an  amiable  and  rather  personable  girl,  in 
humble  circumstances,  was,  a  short  time  before,  to  have 
been  united  to  her  lover,  a  young  sailor  named  William 
Day.  This  marriage,  which  had  been  settled  with  the 
concurrence  of  all  their  friends,  was  expected  to  result  in 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  303 

much  happiness,  as  it  had  been  prompted  by  but  one  mo 
tive,  that  of  pure,  mutual  affection.  Their  wedding-day 
was  accordingly  fixed,  but  on  its  morning,  William,  with 
some  acquaintances,  went  on  board  of  his  vessel,  then  ly 
ing  in  the  offing,  to  take  leave  of  his  old  shipmates,  who 
expected  to  sail  that  evening.  A  breeze  springing  up, 
the  ship  was  obliged  to  weigh  anchor  and  proceed  to  sea, 
whereupon  Day's  companions  got  into  their  little  skiff  to 
return  to  shore.  The  captain,  thinking  her  perhaps  over 
laden,  as  the  sea  was  becoming  very  rough,  would  not  al 
low  Day  to  accompany  them,  but  insisted  on  his  remain 
ing  on  board  until  he  could  be  put  ashore  somewhere 
down  the  coast.  As  had  been  fearfully  anticipated,  the 
skiff  containing  his  unfortunate  friends,  when  half-way  to 
land,  met  a  heavy  sea  and  was  swamped.  Two  of  their 
bodies  were  picked  up  soon  after  on  the  beach,  and  from 
their  fate  that  of  William  Day  was  surmised. 

With  every  hope  thus  apparently  blighted  when  on  the 
very  eve  of  happiness,  poor  Sally  was  so  affected  at  the 
supposed  loss  of  her  lover  that  she  fell  sick,  and,  on  recov 
ering  her  strength,  it  was  found  that  she  had  lost  her  rea 
son.  Sunk  in  a  state  of  despondency,  she  was  accustomed 
to  take  daily  walks  on  the  beach,  about  the  spot  where 
the  bodies  of  the  sufferers  had  been  washed  ashore,  and 
near  which  fancy  led  her  to  imagine  that  her  William 
must  himself  be  lying.  Every  one  knew  and  pitied 
the  amiable  maniac,  who  thus,  under  general  protection, 
roamed  about  unmolested. 

Meanwhile  the  ship  in  which  Day  had  been  carried  to 
sea,  owing  to  the  continuance  of  the  breeze,  kept  on  her 
course.  He  was,  therefore,  constrained  to  accompany  her 
abroad,  and  could  only  return  when  she  did.  At  length 
she  arrived  once  more  in  port;  the  boat  was  manned;  he 
was  the  first  to  enter  her,  the  first  to  spring  on  shore.  In 
a  moment  he  espied  a  female  in  the  distance  who  bore 


304  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

some  resemblance  to  his  Sally,  and  ran  towards  her  call 
ing  her  by  name.  It  was  she.  She  looked  at  him,  recog 
nized  him,  uttered  a  piercing  shriek,  and,  falling  in  his  arms, 
expired.  To  see  once  more  the  beloved  form  which  she 
had  believed  to  be  lost  to  her  forever  had  been  too  great 
a  shock,  and  the  joy  which  in  an  instant  restored  her  to 
reason,  at  the  same  instant  robbed  her  of  life. 

There  was  singularity  enough  in  these  circumstances 
for  a  romance,  yet  it  was  a  tragedy  of  real  and  of  humble 
life.  Its  simplicity  rather  augmented  its  interest,  and  I 
must  confess  that  nothing  in  my  reading  or  experience 
ever  touched  me  more.  The  poor  victim  of  sensibility 
died  within  a  day  of  completing  her  nineteenth  year;  and, 
little  fitted  as  so  pathetic  a  story  might  seem  to  inspire 
anything  like  pleasantry,  this  suggested  to  some  one  in 
the  town  the  following  epigrammatic  epitaph  : 

"  Poor  Sally  Weeks  here  sleeps  and  seeks, 

Mould'ring,  her  kindred  clay ; 
Some  months  she  sighed — at  nineteen  died 
Wanting  a  single  Day." 

After  a  remunerative  stay  at  Portsmouth  we  proceeded 
to  Portland,  where  we  procured  for  our  entertainment  the 
long  room  in  which  the  company  had  formerly  played. 
An  itinerant  preacher  at  this  time  in  the  town,  who  had 
arranged  to  deliver  a  discourse  once  a  week  in  this  same 
room,  on  hearing  with  whom  he  was  now  to  share  it,  de 
clared  that  he  was  glad  "for  once  to  meet  the  devil  on 
his  own  ground  !"  He  was  somewhat  mortified,  however, 
the  night  after,  to  find  that  we  had  attracted  a  much 
larger  assemblage  than  he  had,  and  that  it  also  comprised 
many  of  his  own  congregation. 

On  reaching  Brunswick  I  was  invited  to  join  a  fishing- 
party  up  the  beautiful  river  Androscoggin,  which  takes 
its  name,  I  was  told,  from  the  English  emigrant  who  first 
discovered  it — Andrew  Scroggin.  There  had  been  a  great 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  305 

storm  lately  in  this  district,  and  as  we  rowed  up  the  river 
the  curious  effect  of  it  became  apparent  in  the  form  of 
quantities  of  oily  sturgeon  which  had  been  thrown  ashore, 
and  were  now  strewn  abundantly  on  both  banks,  putrefy 
ing  in  the  sunbeams,  and  forming  a  regale  not  very  agree 
able  to  either  the  olfactory  or  the  optical  sense.     Learn 
ing  here  that  the  little  town  of  Bath  had  never  been  vis 
ited  by  any  amusement  whatever  of  our  kind,  we  drove 
there  and  issued  an  attractive  bill  of  fare  for  the  ensuing 
evening.     The  news  soon  circulated,  and  from  the  commo 
tion  it  excited  we  were  led  to  expect  wonderful  support. 
Before  long  a  ci-devant  major  in  the  American  army,  a 
resident  in  the  place  and  a  very  military  and  methodical- 
looking  person,  who  impressed  me  at  first  sight  very  favor 
ably,  waited  upon  me  at  the  inn  and  begged  to  express  to 
me  in  person  his  high  sense  of  gratification  at  our  visit. 
Becoming  soon  very  friendly,  he  offered,  out  of  pure  good 
nature,  to  stand  at  the  door  in  propria  persona  and  dis 
pose  of  tickets  for  us;  "for,"  said  he,  "  that  appears  to 
me,  my  dear  sir,  a  very  important  office,  and  really  there 
is  no  knowing  the  character  of  people  you  might  obtain 
and  be  deceived  by."     Considering  this  offer  to  be  ex 
tremely  kind,  both  Caulfield  and  I  were  profuse  in  our  ac 
knowledgments,  and  gladly  accepted  so  unimpeachable  a 
money  -  taker.     When  the  evening  came  the  room  was 
crowded  to  excess,  and  I  distinguished  at  the  lowest  com 
putation  above  one  hundred  and  thirty  heads,  which,  at  a 
dollar  apiece,  promised  a  handsome  return.     At  the  close 
our  self-elected  treasurer  presented  himself  to  give  in  his 
account.    "  Really,  gentlemen,"  he  began,  "  I  sincerely  re 
joice  that  you  intrusted  to  me  an  office  in  which  so  much 
must  depend  upon  the  honor  of  the  person  to  whom  it  is 
confided."     I  have  no  doubt  he  did  rejoice,  and  we  soon 
found  what  good  reason  he  had  for  doing  so  when  he  con 
tinued — "  I  am  now  able  to  pay  over  to  you  no  less  a  sum 


306  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

than  eighty-nine  dollars !"  Perhaps  he  thought  that  an 
officer  was  nothing  without  a  "  commission,"  or,  it  may 
be,  his  extreme  good-nature  had  induced  him  to  admit  all 
his  friends  and  relations  gratis;  at  any  rate,  the  fact  re 
mained  that  we  had  to  pay  at  least  fifty  dollars  that  even 
ing  for  the  honor  of  having  a  military  doorkeeper. 

At  Wiscasset  we  put  up  at  an  inn  kept  by  an  Irishman, 
and  our  bills  for  the  ensuing  evening  being  distributed 
directly,  no  sooner  did  the  news  become  public  than  the 
little  town,  which  I  apprehend  had  never  before  been  vis 
ited  in  a  similar  manner,  became  generally  disturbed.  A 
crowd  soon  collected  round  the  windows  of  the  inn  parlor 
in  which  we  were  taking  supper,  to  discover  what  kind  of 
people  we  were.  Several  of  the  more  respectable  inhabit 
ants  took  the  liberty  of  stepping  into  the  room,  drawing 
a  chair  by  the  window  and  listening  to  our  conversation. 
Others  merely  walked  in  as  if  to  make  an  inquiry,  and 
taking  a  comprehensive  view  of  us  from  head  to  foot,  at 
once  withdrew  to  impart  the  information  they  had  ac 
quired  to  their  friends;  while  a  still  larger  class,  more  dif 
fident  than  the  rest,  only  opened  the  door,  took  a  hasty 
glance,  and  then  again  quickly  closed  it.  We  were  most 
amused  by  a  portly,  farmer-looking  man,  who,  by  his  care 
less  manner  and  easy  speech,  seemed  to  be  a  person  of 
some  consequence  in  the  town,  and  who  walked  into  the 
room,  tilted  his  chair  back  by  the  window,  and,  throwing 
his  boots  over  a  bench,  set  himself  deliberately  to  listen 
with  great  earnestness  to  our  discourse.  It  happened  that 
Caulfield  was  just  relating  in  his  humorous  manner  some 
ludicrous  circumstances  he  had  taken  notice  of  during  the 
day,  and  before  long  the  farmer  was  so  pleased  that,  clap 
ping  his  hands  to  his  sides,  he  threw  himself  back  in  his 
chair  and  burst  into  a  loud  roar  of  laughter.  We  put 
down  our  knives  and  forks,  and  looked  round  at  our  unin 
vited  auditor  in  some  surprise.  On  getting  over  his  fit  of 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  307 

risibility,  he  returned  our  gaze  with  a  highly  satisfied  ex 
pression;  then,  getting  up,  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket,  and 
exclaimed: 

"Capital,  gentlemen!  capital!  You  are  right  humor- 
some,  I  calculate.  What's  to  pay  ?" 

This  produced  a  responsive  roar  from  us,  whereupon 
the  rather  puzzled  worthy  explained  that  from  the  humor 
and  eccentricity  Caulfield  had  displayed  he  had  supposed 
that  he  was  relating  one  of  the  stories  from  our  entertain 
ment,  and,  therefore,  in  the  true  spirit  of  honest  trade, 
he  wished  to  pay  for  what  he  had  received.  On  being  in 
formed  that  we  would  accept  no  remuneration  for  what 
he  had  heard,  he  departed  with  a  high  opinion  of  both 
our  talent  and  our  liberality. 

Less  agreeable  was  the  disappointment,  on  another 
ground,  of  a  personage  who  merely  put  his  head  in  at  the 
door  and  withdrew  it  the  next  minute,  apparently  with 
much  dissatisfaction,  for  we  heard  him  exclaim  to  a  com 
panion  outside,  "Tarnation,  Squire  Shaw,  they're  not  so" 
savage  after  all !" 

These  singular  attentions,  however,  though  they  only 
excited  our  smiles,  were  to  my  wife  as  annoying  as  they 
were  astonishing;  and  Caulfield,  perceiving  this,  hit  upon 
a  plan  of  relieving  us  of  our  wondering  spectators  without 
giving  them  offence.  Taking  a  hint  from  the  offer  of  the 
honest  farmer,  he  called  in  the  landlord  and  desired  him 
to  acquaint  the  people  at  the  windows  (which  had  neither 
blinds  nor  curtains)  that  our  prices  were  a  dollar  apiece 
to  hear  our  entertainment  and  half  a  dollar  to  see  ourselves. 
They  were  too  good  judges  of  a  bargain  for  this  not  to 
take  effect. 

The  great  success  of  our  two  nights  at  Wiscasset  would 
have  induced  us  to  remain  there  a  little  longer,  but  that 
my  wife's  condition  made  me  anxious  to  reach  Boston 
without  much  further  delay.  We  accordingly  turned  our 


308  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

horses'  beads  homeward,  and  lecturing  again  at  Portland, 
Portsmouth,  and  Newburyport,  as  we  passed  through 
them,  arrived  in  Boston  about  five  hundred  dollars  in 
pocket  from  our  excursion. 

My  wife  soon  after  presented  me  with  a  boy,*  and  then, 
removing  to  our  new  residence,  we  passed  a  delightful  au 
tumn  in  retirement  and  recreation,  having  found  the  first 
year  of  life  as  a  manager  in  America,  if  not  very  profit 
able,  at  least  very  pleasant. 

The  season  of  1807-8  commenced  early  in  September 
with  some  slight  prospect  of  improving  upon  its  predeces 
sor,  and  with  some  new  additions  to  the  company.  As 
Caulfield,  from  the  very  irregular  habits  he  had  fallen 
into,  could  no  longer  be  depended  upon,  we  were  con 
strained  to  look  about  for  some  other  hero  to  be  ready  to 
supply  his  place,  and  just  at  this  time  a  gentleman  arrived 
from  England  on  a  dramatic  visit  to  the  States  who  ap 
peared  to  be  the  very  man  we  wanted.  Mr.  Cromwell, 
the  person  in  question,  was,  however,  in  reality  only  one 
of  the  most  ingenious  and  amusing  impostors  I  ever  met 
with.  In  his  style  as  an  actor,  hovering  between  a  bad 
imitation  and  a  worse  originality,  he  had  no  qualifica 
tion  for  the  stage  but  one — self-confidence — which  yet 
only  led  to  a  fuller  display  of  all  his  other  deficiencies. 
He  had  been  formerly  a  small  tradesman,  but  being  smit 
ten  with  a  passion  for  the  stage,  he  applied  to,  and  ap 
peared  at,  the  Bath  Theatre.  Fearing,  perhaps,  that  the 
editors  might  not  have  sufficient  discrimination  to  find 
out  his  merits,  he  wrote  a  glowing  puff  upon  his  own 
debut,  and  forwarded  it  to  the  provincial  papers.  Once 
in  print,  he  then  proceeded  to  London  with  these  public 
recommendations,  and,  procuring  an  opening  at  one  of 
the  principal  houses,  managed  to  secure  the  insertion  of 

*  W.  Bayle  Bernard. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  309 

a  similar  homemade  article  on  his  own  performance  in 
the  metropolitan  journals.  His  attempts  on  the  stage 
were,  of  course,  a  failure,  and  his  critical  remarks  a  tissue 
of  falsehoods,  but,  nevertheless,  they  answered  his  pur 
pose.  Putting  the  latter  in  his  pocket,  he  went  off  to 
America,  landed  at  Boston,  waited  on  the  manager,  an 
nounced  his  profession,  and,  in  proof  of  his  talents,  showed 
all  the  papers  containing  those  striking  criticisms  written 
by  himself,  but  of  the  authorship  of  which,  of  course,  he 
gave  no  hint.  Powell,  who  saw  him  in  my  absence,  be 
lieving  he  would  be  attractive  and  a  good  substitute  for 
Caulfield,  engaged  him  on  the  spot  for  three  years  at 
twenty-five  dollars  a  week.  We  gave  him  Octavian  as  an 
opening  character,  and  from  the  reports  that  had  been 
circulated  about  him  public  attention  was  very  generally 
excited.  He  performed;  a  worse  specimen  of  histrionic 
quackery  I  had  never  seen,  and  the  spectators  would  hard 
ly  permit  the  announcement  of  his  name  for  a  second 
night.  The  next  day  I  went  to  consult  my  solicitor,  who 
briefly  told  me  that  an  agreement  was  an  agreement,  and 
as  we  had  entered  into  one  with  this  man,  whether  inju 
rious  or  beneficial,  we  must  abide  by  it.  The  idea,  how 
ever,  of  being  burdened  with  such  a  fellow  for  three  years 
was  insupportable,  and  at  the  end  of  the  season,  on  pay 
ment  of  $100,  he  consented  to  oblige  us,  in  a  most  unex 
pected  but  gratifying  manner,  by  taking  himself  off. 

Notwithstanding  the  annoyance  he  had  caused,  Mr. 
Cromwell's  whimsicality  had  rendered  him  sometimes 
very  amusing.  Every  night  he  made  his  appearance  the 
audience  distinguished  him  from  all  the  rest  of  the  per 
formers  by  a  peculiar  loud  hiss  at  his  entrance  and  exit, 
neglecting  him  entirely  while  on  the  stage.  Thus,  though 
no  "star,"  he  certainly  exerted  the  malign  influence  once 
attributed  to  those  bodies  by  exciting  what,  in  the  pit, 
amounted  to  a  hurricane  of  displeasure,  which,  in  its  col- 


310  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

lective  elements  of  hisses,  abuse,  and  stampings,  it  might 
have  been  imagined  no  one  could  have  withstood.  He, 
however,  remained  always  unbending  as  the  oak  before 
the  blast  which  assails  it.  He  continued  his  speech,  he 
maintained  his  position,  he  looked  his  adversaries  in  the 
face — aye,  and  with  a  smile.  He  might  have  borrowed 
the  language  of  Richard,  "I  can  smile,  and  smile,  and 
murder  "  (as  regards  his  part)  "  while  I  smile."  One  even 
ing,  during  the  performance  of  the  "  Mogul  Tale,"  in  which 
I  played  Johnny  Atkinson,  the  cobbler,  Mr.  Cromwell, 
who  was  playing  the  Mogul,  instead  of  making  his  exit 
at  the  proper  time,  and  leaving  me  to  take  my  flight  home 
by  myself,  persisted  in  remaining  on  the  stage.  Unable 
to  conjecture  his  reason  for  this  embarrassing  conduct,  I 
kept  making  signs  to  him  to  go  off,  but  all  in  vain ;  and 
even  when  called  from  behind  the  scenes,  he  imperturb- 
ably  maintained  his  position  until  the  curtain  dropped. 
On  inquiring  immediately  with  some  asperity  what  was 
the  meaning  of  his  paying  such  disregard  to  the  stage 
directions  and  the  plot  of  the  piece,  he  replied  at  once, 
"  I  had  an  excellent  reason,  sir."  "  I  should  be  glad  if 
you  would  favor  me  with  it,  then."  "Oh,  certainly;  you 
must  be  aware,  Mr.  Bernard,  what  would  have  been  the 
consequence  if  I  had  made  my  exit  at  the  proper  time." 
"Indeed,  I'm  not;  what  would?"  "Why,  a  long  and 
loud  hissing  that  would  have  lasted,  perhaps,  for  fifteen 
minutes."  "  Well,  sir  !"  "  Well,  that  hissing  at  my  go 
ing  off  must,  you  know,  have  interrupted  your  scene ;  so 
from  no  interest  of  my  own  so  much  as  to  preserve  you 
from  annoyance  I  continued  on  the  stage,  knowing  they 
wouldn't  hiss  until  I  was  gone,  and  not  caring,  you  know, 
when  once  the  curtain  was  down,  whether  they  hissed  or 
not.  Don't  you  see  my  reason  now  ?"  To  such  an  argu 
ment  I  was  not  prepared  to  reply. 

I  had  now  a  communication  from  Placide,  the  Charles- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  311 

ton  manager,  informing  me  of  the  death  of  Jack  Hatton, 
the  theatrical  eccentric,  whom  I  had  engaged  when  in 
London  to  come  to  Boston  at  the  close  of  the  Haymarket 
season.  Instead,  however,  of  keeping  his  word  with  me, 
he  accepted  an  offer  to  go  out  to  Charleston,  where  he 
became  a  great  favorite.  He  there  played  a  great  variety 
of  characters,  some  of  them  I  should  imagine  very  badly, 
yet  as  regards  a  particular  class  he  was  one  of  the  most 
original  actors  I  ever  saw.  But  few,  I  am  aware,  have 
made  pretensions  to  play  the  kind  of  character  in  which 
lie  excelled,  but  as  far  as  my  own  observation  goes  those 
who  have  done  so  have  wanted  most  of  the  qualifications 
to  do  them  justice  which  he  possessed.  But  what  was  his 
excellence  ?  Why,  something  with  which  neither  senti 
mental  nor  refined  minds  would,  perhaps,  be  much  pleased, 
because  they  could  not  sympathize  with  it,  but  which  a 
judicious  critic  must,  nevertheless,  admire  as  a  dramatic 
singularity.  He  was  the  accurate  representative  of  low 
life,  equally  happy  in  the  blustering  boldness  or  swagger 
ing  gayety  of  the  bully,  or  in  the  heartless  villainy  or  sav 
age  triumph  of  the  ruffian. 

Though  clever  and  original,  his  reputation  in  the  pro 
fession  was  not  very  high,  which  arose  from  the  fact  that 
he  rarely  played,  by  his  own  consent,  the  characters  in 
which  he  so  greatly  excelled,  for,  through  a  strange  in 
fatuation,  which,  however,  I  have  known  to  bewilder  some 
hundreds  besides  him,  he  thought  himself  most  happy  in 
others,  for  which  he  was  in  reality  totally  unfit;  and  thus 
ho  seldom  came  before  the  public  but  in  a  wrong  point 
of  view.  It  was  this  which  accounted  for  his  breach  of 
agreement  with  me.  I  had  engaged  him  to  play  low  com 
edy;  the  Charleston  manager  offered  him  high  tragedy; 
his  inclinations  got  the  mastery  over  his  judgment,  and 
accordingly  the  actor  was  condemned  while  the  man  was 
gratified. 


312  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Christmas  was  now  approaching,  and  hitherto  the  sea 
son  had  proved  lamentably  "bad.  The  novelties  that  had 
been  successively  produced  had  failed.  To  make  amends 
for  Mr.  Cromwell,  Fennell  had  been  engaged  for  a  num 
ber  of  nights  ;  also  Webster,  the  singer,  almost  as  clever 
as  his  celebrated  namesake  of  Drury  Lane;  and  Mrs.  War 
ren,  late  Mrs.  Wignell,  had  concluded  an  engagement  prof 
itable  enough  for  herself  ($1400  for  nine  nights),  and  had 
returned  to  Philadelphia.  Twaites,  the  comedian,  who 
succeeded  her,  did  not  attract  sufficient  faces  to  the  gallery 
to  tell  whether  he  looked  best  in  a  brown  wig  or  a  black 
one.  Our  "  stars,"  in  fact,  however  they  might  shine  upon 
the  stage,  by  no  means  threw  a  golden  gleam  into  the 
treasury.  At  this  critical  period  the  equestrians  came  to 
town,  and  their  novelty  carried  away,  in  a  great  measure, 
such  portion  of  the  public  as  had  hitherto  supported  us. 
As  we  had  honorably  discharged  all  our  obligations,  and 
the  company  were  continued  on  full  salaries,  our  loss  had 
been  very  heavy,  and  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  my  spir 
its  began  to  sink  under  the  depression  of  ill-success.  The 
profits  of  my  ten  years'  career  in  America  as  an  actor  had 
been  mainly  sunk  in  the  purchase  of  lands,  now  of  little 
or  no  realizable  value  to  me;  my  domestic  expenses  were 
increasing,  and  I  had  reached  a  time  of  life  when  a  man 
should  be,  not  merely  maintaining  himself,  but  laying  by 
some  provision  for  the  future. 

My  reflections,  too,  were  embittered  by  a  consideration 
of  the  certain  prospects  of  success  I  had  quitted  in  making 
this  speculation  and  the  profitable  offers  I  had  refused  in 
England,  both  from  Mr.  Wroughton  and  Mr.  Harris  on 
account  of  it.  However,  as  it  was  necessary  I  should  ex 
ert  myself  in  order  to  prevent  matters  from  getting  still 
worse,  my  good  friend  Mr.  F.  C.  Amory  addressed  a  let 
ter  for  me  to  General  Sheaf,  in  Canada,  to  inquire  how 
far  a  professional  trip  to  that  quarter  might  be  eligible  in 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  313 

the  summer;  and  I  made  an  arrangement  with  Warren 
and  Cooper  to  visit  Philadelphia  and  New  York  at  once. 
When  we  went  on  board  the  packet  for  the  latter  place, 
on  a  fine  day  and  with  a  fair  breeze,  we  augured  a  pleas 
ant  trip,  but  the  wind  changing  in  the  night  brought  on  a 
severe  frost  and  a  snowstorm,  and  the  sailors'  hands  be 
came  so  frost-bitten  that  they  could  no  longer  handle  any 
thing.  Our  situation  soon  grew  very  dangerous — a  heavy 
sea  washed  away  our  boat  and  smashed  the  caboose  house; 
and  another,  striking  the  vessel  on  her  stern  quarters, 
broke  through  the  windows  of  the  cabin  and  filled  it  two 
feet  deep  with  water.  Luckily  both  Mrs.  Bernard  and  I 
had  upper  berths.  The  storeroom  door  was  also  burst 
open  by  the  shock,  and,  on  looking  down,  I  saw  the  released 
turkeys,  geese,  and  loaves  dancing  about  merrily  in  the 
little  waves;  and  among  them  my  portmanteau,  contain 
ing  a  packet  of  New  York  bills  to  the  amount  of  $2000, 
which  my  bankers  at  Boston  had  intrusted  to  me  to  get 
changed  for  them.  While  contemplating  this  pleasant 
scene  the  captain  came  down-stairs  and  told  us  in  a  very 
serious  tone  that  he  had  done  his  utmost  and  we  must 
now  take  our  chance  for  safety,  a  disclaimer  of  responsi 
bility  which  might  be  very  satisfactory  to  himself,  but 
which  by  no  means  tended  to  tranquillize  the  minds  of 
his  passengers.  In  the  next  berth  to  me  was  a  young  sea- 
captain,  who,  having  laid  up  his  vessel  for  the  winter,  was 
proceeding  to  New  York  with  a  newly-wedded  wife  to 
make  mer.ry  during  Christmas.  Springing  upon  his  legs 
directly,  with  myself  and  one  or  two  others  after  him, 
this  gentleman  ran  up  on  deck  to  ascertain  the  real  amount 
of  our  danger. 

Never  before  had  I  looked  on  so  dreary  a  scene.  The 
wind  was  blowing  hard,  but  the  frost  had  glued  the  sails 
up  about  the  mast,  and  stuck  all  the  cordage  together  so 
that  there  was  scarcely  a  running  line  at  liberty.  Snow, 

14 


314  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

mingled  with  some  sleet,  was  falling  heavily,  and  froze  as 
it  fell,  and  the  miserable  blacks  who  composed  the  crew 
were  huddled  together,  quaking  and  shivering,  and  unable 
to  render  any  assistance,  while  all  the  time  we  were  run 
ning  unconsciously  on  the  breakers  a  short  distance  ahead. 
Casting  a  sweeping  glance  around,  the  young  captain 
espied  the  Falklands  light,  ran  at  once  to  the  helm,  put 
it  aside,  and  as  the  sloop  veered  round  we  heard  her  audi 
bly  graze  upon  a  rock  before  she  righted.  The  jib  was 
then  hoisted,  and  we  soon  after  ran  to  shore  in  safety,  un- 
feignedly  thankful  for  our  escape.  Our  rescuer,  on  re 
turning  to  his  cabin,  begged  his  lovely  spouse  not  to  be 
alarmed,  and  inquired  if  she  would  not  like  some  spirits 
and  water.  Drawing  a  long  sigh,  she  replied,  with  a  droll 
quaintness,  which,  even  under  such  circumstances,  pro 
voked  a  smile : 

"  Spirits,  indeed,  I  have  none;  but  it  seems  as  if  I  should 
have  more  water  soon  than  I  wished  for ;"  an  opinion  in 
which  we  all  at  the  time  concurred. 

Having  at  length  safely  reached  Philadelphia,  among 
its  hospitable,  liberal,  and  refined  inhabitants  I  found 
many  friends  to  remember  and  welcome  me.  My  recep 
tion  was  a  brilliant  one,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
every  night  of  my  performance  numerous  faces  which 
awoke  the  most  agreeable  recollections.  Far  more  invita 
tions  flowed  in  on  me  than  I  could  possibly  accept,  but 
they  were  gratifying,  nevertheless,  as  proofs  of  the  con 
tinued  kindly  feelings  which  the  Philadelphians  had  ever 
shown  towards  the  comedian,  and  which  were  fully  mani 
fested  at  my  benefit. 

At  New  York  I  opened  in  Lord  Ogleby,  but  as  Cooper, 
Twaits,  and  Harwood  were  gone  to  Boston,  and  Mrs.  Dar- 
ley  was  ill,  I  found  it  a  hard  task  to  struggle  through  a 
performance  with  so  little  support  as  I  received.  An  in 
vitation  to  my  old  friend's,  Governor  Crawford,  gave  me 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  315 

the  pleasure  of  being  introduced  to  Mr.  Washington  Ir 
ving,  an  agreeable,  conversable,  and  unprejudiced  man;  but 
in  the  middle  of  the  evening,  finding  a  peculiar  taste  in 
my  mouth,  I  looked  into  the  cigar  stand  at  my  feet  and 
found,  to  my  great  surprise,  that  I  had  been  expectorating 
blood  for  some  time.  Much  alarmed,  I  informed  my 
friends  of  the  circumstance,  and  as  they  were  of  opinion 
that  I  must  have  ruptured  a  blood-vessel,  the  governor  sent 
me  home  at  once  in  his  coach.  As  my  doctor  had  unluckily 
just  gone  out  and  could  nowhere  be  found,  I  lay  till  morn 
ing  bleeding  profusely  from  my  lungs,  till  at  last,  medical 
assistance  arriving,  the  hemorrhage  was  temporarily  as 
suaged.  Alone  with  a  young  wife  three  thousand  miles 
away  from  her  family  and  friends,  and  with. my  affairs  in 
so  deranged  a  state,  our  feelings  during  this  terrible  night 
are  beyond  my  powers  to  describe. 

The  next  day  Cooper,  Harwood,  and  the  rest  were  to 
return  from  Boston  and  join  me  in  the  comedy  of  the 
"  School  for  Scandal,"  and  I  actually  played  Sir  Peter 
that  evening,  with  a  physician  at  the  side  scenes,  in  mo 
mentary  apprehension  of  being  stopped  by  a  return  of  the 
hemorrhage.  The  next  night  was  my  benefit;  but  as  by 
then  I  was  quite  unable  to  leave  my  bed,  Green  performed 
Major  O'Flaherty  instead  of  me.  The  receipts,  however, 
equalled  my  expectation.  Before  long  I  began  to  recover; 
but  my  doctors  agreed  that  I  ought  to  abstain  from  all 
professional  labors  for  the  rest  of  that  winter,  and  by 
good  nursing  and  retirement  try  to  effectually  heal  up  the 
ruptured  vessel  and  re-establish  my  health.  To  this  ad 
vice  I  resolved  to  conform,  and  prepared  at  once  to  return 
to  Boston.  The  evening  before  we  started,  Mr.  Coleman, 
the  editor  of  the  Evening  JPost,  dropped  in  to  chat  for  an 
hour  or  two  in  his  usual  friendly  way;  but  at  length,  pull 
ing  out  his  watch,  rose  in  haste,  saying  he  had  an  appoint 
ment  to  which  he  must  attend.  I  asked  him  if  he  would 
not  call  on  us  in  the  morning  before  we  left. 


316  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

"  Why,"  be  replied,  pleasantly,  "  I  don't  really  know, 
ray  good  friend.  1  should  like  to." 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  we  shall  not  go  very  early,  and  if  you 
are  awake — " 

"  Oh,"  he  interrupted,  in  the  same  peculiar  tone,  "  de 
pend  on  it,  if  Pm  awa7ce,  I'll  drop  in  to  see  you." 

In  the  morning  we  saw  no  Mr.  Coleman;  but  a  week 
after  I  was  informed  that  he  had  fought  a  duel  with  some 
gentleman  of  New  York  on  the  very  day  in  question,  and 
that  he  had  in  fact  sat  in  my  parlor  and  conversed  with  us 
till  within  half  an  hour  of  the  appointed  time,  which 
pleasantly  enough  accounted  for  the  ambiguity  of  his 
parting  expressions. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Excursion  to  Vermont. — Concord  and  Discord. — Monsieur  Mallet. — State 
Characteristics. — Milestones  and  Finger-posts;  an  Irish  Finger-post. 
— Burlington. — A  Vermont  Farmer;  his  Dinner  and  Conversation. — A 
Musician. — A  Medical  Innkeeper ;  his  One  Story. — Saratoga  Springs. — 
Sail  up  the  Hudson. — New  Engagements. — General  Humphreys  and 
Humphreysville. — Connecticut  Laws. — A  Silent  Town. — Profiting  by  a 
;Fine> — Return  to  Boston. — 1808  Season. — Stirring  in  a  Matter. — "The 
Pilgrims." — General  Theatrical  Depression. — The  Indian  and  the  Afri 
can. — Love  and  Liquor. — The  Three  Warnings. — The  Two  John  Gilpins: 
— 1809. — Boston. — Failure  and  Disappointment. — A  New  Comedy  ;  its 
Prologue. — Barrett's  Last  Act. — Graduated  Ingenuity. — Yankee  Anec 
dotes. — Borrowing  a  Horse. — Buying  Brandy. — Stars. —  "  The  Forty 
Thieves." — Contemplated  Changes. 

As  the  spring  advanced  my  health  gradually  improved, 
and  my  hopes  increased  of  retrieving  during  the  summer 
some  of  the  time  I  had  lost.  My  partners,  Powell  and 
Dickinson,*  now  proposed  to  me  an  excursion  through 

*  SNELLING  POWELL,  of  the  firm  of  Powell  &  Dickinson,  was  a  native  of 
Wales.  He  made  his  American  debut  in  Boston  in  1794,  and  after  a  va 
ried  career  died  there  in  1821.  His  wife,  Elizabeth  Harrison,  ranked  very 
high  in  her  profession  both  in  England,  where  she  supported  Mrs.  Sid- 
dons,  and  in  America,  where  she  was  very  popular.  She  succeeded  her 
husband  in  the  management  of  the  Boston  Theatre,  and  died  in  1843,  in 
the  seventieth  year  of  her  age.  DICKINSON,  whose  real  name  was  Dickson, 
made  his  first  appearance  on  any  stage  in  Boston  in  1796.  He  became 
joint  lessee  of  the  Boston  Theatre  with  Powell  and  Bernard  in  1806,  and 
played  an  important  part  in  theatrical  management  in  America,  introduc 
ing  George  Frederick  Cook,  the  Duffs,  and  other  noted  actors  to  the 
American  stage.  He  ceased  to  act  in  1817,  but  continued  before  the  pub 
lic  as  a  manager  for  many  years,  dying  greatly  respected  in  1853.  He  also 
married  a  Miss  Harrison,  sister  of  Mrs.  Powell,  but  not  her  equal  in  genius. 


318  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Vermont,  with  a  small  company  and  a  limited  wardrobe, 
to  give  an  entertainment  of  play  and  farce.  As  this  prom 
ised  to  be  a  successful  trip  I  agreed  to  go,  purchased  a 
light  little  travelling  carriage  for  my  wife  and  self,  and 
left  The  Lodge,  our  country  residence,  in  possession  of 
a  friend,  who  promised  to  get  my  hay  in  and  send  my 
fruit  to  market.  Our  party,  consisting  of  Powell,  Dick 
inson,  and  their  wives,  Mallet,  Morgan,  myself,  and  Mrs. 
Graupner,  set  off  from  Boston  in  three  travelling-carriages 
and  in  the  best  spirits  and  expectations.  Mallet  merely 
played — his  instrument — and  Mrs.  Graupner  was  only  a 
singer.  The  remaining  six,  therefore,  had  need  to  have 
had  each  the  versatility  of  a  Garrick  in  order  to  assume  the 
variety  and  number  of  characters  our  little  plays  afforded, 
even  cut  down,  condensed,  and  adapted  as  they  were,  so 
far  as  it  was  possible,  to  the  strength  of  our  miniature 
corps.  Dickinson,  for  instance,  in  "The  Jew,"  played 
Frederick  Bertram,  Jubal,  and  a  fiddle  in  the  orchestra; 
but,  to  his  praise  be  it  spoken,  he  played  them  all  very 
well.  This  is  a  sufficient  specimen  of  the  shifts  and  de 
vices  we  were  put  to. 

At  Concord,  which  from  its  name  I  should  have  sus 
pected  to  be  a  settlement  of  Quakers,  WTC  met  with  but  a 
poor  reception  from  the  genteel  inhabitants  and  a  much 
—  worse  one  from  the  lower  order.  Before  our  entertain 
ment  commenced  a  large  throng  assembled  outside  of  the 
inn  and  began  abusing  and  villifying  us,  in  even  worse 
terms  than  those  with  which  these  same  worthies  had  as 
sailed  Lord  North.  Powell  was  intimidated,  and  would 
not  go  on  with  his  character,  but  his  wife,  with  a  courage 
I  could  not  but  admire,  persevered  like  a  heroine.  I  tried 
to  put  a  comical  face  on  the  matter  and  laugh  off  our  an 
noyance,  but  it  still  continued,  and  in  consequence  little 
or  nothing  could  be  heard  of  the  entertainment.  At  this 
critical  juncture  Monsieur  Mallet,  who  was  a  better  poli- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  319 

tician  than  a  fiddle-player,  came  to  the  rescue.  He  had 
received  the  rudiments  of  his  musical  education  in  one  of 
the  revolutionary  bands  that  had  stirred  up  the  Jacobin 
ical  spirits  of  the  French  soldiery  in  1793,  and  perhaps, 
therefore,  felt  rather  in  his  element  than  otherwise  when 
surrounded  by  a  mob.  Putting  down  his  instrument,  he 
ran  to  the  window  and  shouted:  "Gentlemens!  gentle- 
mens!"  A  silence  immediately  prevailed.  "I  vas  speak 
one  vord  to  you ;  vat  vas  you  vant  ?" 

"  Tarnation,"  replied  one  of  the  mob,  "  why,  we  want 
none  of  your  company,  I  guess;  you  are  reg'lar  British 
spies  and  mountebanks." 

"  Aha  !  vhat  vas  dat  you  say,  sare  ?  ve  no  mount  on  de 
back — no  spy.  Ve  artistes  de  Theatre  from  Boston." 

"  Are  you  British,  squire  ?" 

"  No;  I  am  von  Frenchman." 

Here  a  great  murmur  ran  through  the  crowd. 

"  A  Frenchman  !  a  Frenchman  !" 

"  Yes,  I  vas  von  Frenchman,  sare,  and  I  glory  in  the 
name  of  Frenchman,  sare;  I  vas  serve  vid  Napoleon  in  de 
battle  of  Marcngo;  and  I  vas  know  vat  it  vas  to  put  one 
rascal  to  death  that  makes  a  noise  outside  of  de  vindow." 

Whether  the  mere  announcement  of  nationality  had 
satisfied  them,  or  this  latter  piece  of  information,  deliv 
ered  in  a  very  emphatic  tone  and  with  appropriate  gesticu 
lation,  had  its  effect  upon  the  simple-wit  ted  though  turbu 
lent  Vermonters — at  any  rate  they  shrank  back  as  though 
in  fear,  and  sank  into  a  submissive  silence  before  the 
wrathful  and  menacing  musician.  Flushed  with  success, 
Mallet  strode  back  to  his  fiddle  with  the  air  of  an  Alex 
ander  taking  his  seat  among  his  compeers,  and  we  finished 
our  performance  in  peace.  In  those  days  Concord  cer 
tainly  contained  some  very  quarrelsome  fellows. 

The  next  town  we  wished  to  reach  was  Walpole,  but 
the  roads  offered  by  no  means  easy  travelling.  The  in- 


320  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

habitants  of  Vermont,  noted  for  their  industry,  their 
honesty,  and  their  stationary  character,  are  also  distin 
guished  for  a  peculiar  turn  of  humor  in  their  remarks  and 
some  oddities  of  manner,  being  in  the  latter  respect  even 
more  primitive  than  the  Pennsylvanians.  Their  neigh 
bors  of  Massachusetts  (by  some  termed  the  Scotch  of 
North  America),  in  passing  continually  through  this  state 
on  their  way  to  and  from  Canada  and  the  back  countries, 
are  frequently  exposed  to  the  ridicule  of  the  inhabitants. 
One  of  the  many  stories  in  circulation  bearing  on  this 
subject  was  that  of  a  Bostonian  travelling  through  Ver 
mont,  and  overtaken  by  night  on  a  lonely  road,  who  at 
length  saw  a  youngster  some  distance  ahead,  and  appre 
hensive  that  he  had  mistaken  his  way,  called  out  to  the 
lad: 

"Jack!  Jack!  I  want  to  know  which  is  the  way  to 
Chesterfield  ?" 

"  How  did  you  know  my  name  was  Jack  ?"  responded 
the  youth. 

"  Why,  I  guessed  it,"  replied  the  traveller. 

"  Oh,  then  you  may  guess  your  way  to  Chesterfield  !" 

Fearful  of  being  nonplussed  in  a  similar  way  myself,  I 
was  very  particular  each  morning  before  I  quitted  the 
tavern  to  learn  all  I  could  of  the  road  we  were  to  pursue 
throughout  the  day,  as  there  were  few  opportunities  after 
wards  of  ascertaining  anything  on  the  subject.  Notwith 
standing  this  caution,  I  lost  my  track  one  day,  and  was 
actually  retracing  my  steps  to  Boston.  I  learned  this  in  a 
characteristic  manner  when  I  pulled  tip  to  inquire  of  a 
countryman  who  was  felling  a  tree  by  the  roadside — 

"  My  good  friend,"  said  I,  "  am  I  on  the  right  road  to 
Walpole?" 

"Yes,"  replied  the  man;  "you  are  on  the  right  road; 
but  I  reckon  you  must  turn  your  horse's  head  or  you'll 
never ^get  there  !" 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  321 

The  two  things,  however,  which  at  this  time  proved  the 
greatest  annoyances  to  travellers  through  Vermont  were 
what  are  generally  intended  to  produce  the  very  contrary 
effect  —  viz.,  the  milestones  and  the  finger-posts.  The 
former  were  mostly  either  misleading  from  their  inaccu 
racy  or  useless  from  their  indistinctness.  A  peculiarity 
that  distinguished  them  from  the  highway  guides  of  other 
countries  was  that  they  invariably  lay  on  the  road  with 
their  heads  pillowed  softly  against  some  knoll  or  bank,  in 
stead  of  standing  upright  on  the  ground,  as  we  are  wont 
to  see  them  in  England.  One  stone,  nearly  illegible  from 
the  obliterating  pressure  which  the  finger  of  Time  had  laid 
on  its  inscription,  I  was  obliged  to  get  out  of  the  carriage 
to  inspect  more  nearly.  Neither  words  nor  figures  could  I 
distinguish,  and  so  far  my  purpose  was  frustrated;  but 
just  below  where  the  information  should  have  been  I 
found  that  some  one  had  traced  two  lines  in  pencil  which 
were  very  distinct  and  somewhat  funny,  though  by  no 
means  consoling — some  tourist,  I  imagine,  whose  greatest 
merit  in  the  matter  lay  in  his  not  signing  his  name  to 
them.  They  ran  thus:  "Notice  to  travellers!  No  reli 
ance  to  be  placed  on  the  milestones  all  the  way  to  Bur 
lington,  for  they  lie,  every  one  of  them!"  But  finger-posts 
are,  of  course,  of  much  more  consequence  on  an  unknown 
road,  intersected  by  cross-country  lanes  in  abundance, 
which  every  few  miles  branch  out  again  into  others.  Very 
few,  however,  were  supplied,  and  the  utility  of  these  was 
often  negatived  by  the  careless  manner  in  which  they 
were  attended  to.  For  instance,  you  come  to  a  branching- 
off  in  the  road  where  either  way  looks  as  likely  as  the 
other  to  be  the  highway  to  the  place  you  are  seeking. 
You  see  at  the  moment  neither  house  nor  human  being  to 
afford  you  any  information;  but  luckily,  as  you  think,  your 
eye  lights  on  a  board  nailed  against  the  bark  of  a  broad- 
spreading  oak-tree,  growing  just  at  the  separation  of  the 

14* 


322  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

roads — a  painted  board — which  will  surely  prove  a  guide. 
This  board,  however,  has  merely  the  name  of  the  next 
town  and  the  number  of  miles  thence  inscribed  upon  it, 
and  though  commonly  called  a  finger-post,  has  no  repre 
sentation  of  either  hand  or  finger  pointing  one  way  or  the 
other  to  signify  "  go  there."  Furthermore,  it  has  by  some 
economical  blacksmith  been  rendered  an  adjunct  to  the 
tree  by  means  of  a  single  nail  driven  through  its  middle. 
The  wind  and  the  weather  shaking  the  tree  have  necessa 
rily  loosened  the  nail,  and  the  board,  therefore,  acting  on 
mathematical  principles  and  the  law  of  gravitation,  has 
turned  round  on  its  axis,  the  nail,  and  now  hangs  length 
wise,  with  its  heaviest  end  to  the  ground.  The  conse 
quence  is  that  on  riding  up  to  it  for  information,  as  I  did 
myself,  since  the  direction  of  the  place  can  only  be  judged 
of  by  the  direction  of  the  letters  that  form  its  name,  ac 
cording  to  this  you  are  led  to  imagine  that  the  Sammy- 
town  or  Dickyville — the  object  of  your  journey — is  either 
from  the  infernal  suggestion  of  the  board  some  subter 
ranean  settlement  in  a  coal-pit,  or  an  Aladdin's  cave  to 
which  you  perceive  no  descending  avenue,  or,  from  the 
sublime  direction  of  the  letters,  that  it  is  situated  some 
where  in  the  celestial  regions,  a  fact  which  the  topography 
of  the  country,  not  to  say  the  character  of  the  inhabit 
ants,  most  likely  altogether  denies.  I  must  own,  however, 
that  I  am  puzzled  to  decide  whether  this  evil  of  a  board 
pointing  in  the  wrong  direction  is  greater  or  less  than  that 
of  a  board  pointing  in  no  direction  at  all,  which  was  what 
I  found  on  another  occasion,  when,  on  riding  up  to  where 
four  roads  met,  I  perceived  the  finger-post,  instead  of 
maintaining  its  perpendicular,  like  an  upright  preacher,  to 
point  the  true  way,  was  lying  at  full  length  in  the  road, 
blown  down  most  likely  by  some  spiteful  wind  travelling 
in  an  opposite  direction  to  that  which  the  post  indicated. 
Anyhow,  here  was  the  post  entirely  at  my  mercy,  so  that 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  323 

it  was  certainly  in  my  power  to  raise  it  up  again,  reinstate 
the  lower  end  in  its  abandoned  hole,  and  then  gratify  my 
fancy  by  pointing  its  board  to  either  of  the  four  roads 
which  I  might  choose  to  select.  Now,  to  a  stranger  and 
a  traveller  what  could  be  more  annoying  than  this,  except 
it  were  that  yet  more  peculiar  highway  directory  which  I 
remember  meeting  with  in  my  youthful  wanderings  in 
Ireland,  and  which  actually  served  the  twofold  purpose 
of  a  finger-post  and  a  weather-cock,  indicating  both  the 
way  and  the  wind.  I  will  inform  my  reader  how  this 
came  to  pass.  The  post  of  this  truly  Hibernian  invention 
was  very  long,  and  socketed  in  a  hole  dug  in  very  firm 
clay,  wTide  enough  for  the  post  to  move  round  in,  and  yet 
too  deep  for  it  to  fall  out.  The  board  was  a  long  shutter, 
which  had  in  its  youth,  I  believe,  flapped  backward  and 
forward  at  some  sheeben-house  window,  employed  only  to 
darken  its  few  inhabitants,  but  was  now  set  up  on  high  to 
enlighten  the  community  at  large  on  sundry  topographical 
and  aerial  matters.  Standing  on  a  heath  where  four  roads 
met,  it  had  pointed  originally  in  the  direction  of  a  princi 
pal  town  attainable  by  one  of  these  roads,  till  the  wind 
beating  the  shutter  had  gradually  loosened  the  post,  and 
now  whirled  it  round  at  will.  The  few  cabins,  therefore, 
that  skirted  the  heath  within  sight  of  the  finger-post  took 
their  weather  observations  from  it  accordingly;  as,  for 
instance  one  might  hear: 

"  Teddy,  darlint,  which  way  does  the  finger-post  point 
this  morning?" 

"To  Ballyborough,  daddy." 

"  Oh,  by  the  powers,  thin  the  wind's  north." 

The  next  day,  perhaps,  it  would  be : 

"Shall  we  have  any  luck  to-day,  Judy  ?" 

"  As  sure  as  black's  the  blue  of  your  eye." 

"  And  why,  thin,  jewel  ?" 

"  Bekase  the  wind's  south,  and  south's  always  a  lucky 
wind." 


324  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

"Ah,  but  where  does  the  finger-post  point  to?" 

"  To  Crooskeen,  dare." 

"  Oh,  tunder  and  turf!  does  it  point  there,  Judy.  Sure 
enough,  no  luck  for  us  then ;  for  doesn't  the  steward  live 
in  Crooskeen,  and  who  the  divil  ever  heard  of  luck  com 
ing  from  him  ?" 

Our  performance  at  Walpole,  when  at  last  we  reached 
it,  did  little  more  than  pay  our  tavern  bill ;  we  therefore 
pushed  on  to  Burlington,  the  principal  town  in  Vermont, 
situated  on  Lake  Charnplain,  where  we  expected  better 
success.  Meeting  here  with  some  friends  from  Boston  on 
a  tour,  a  fishing-party  was  proposed,  and  a  worthy  Ver 
mont  farmer,  whom  I  met  with  at  the  inn,  undertook  to 
conduct  us  to  a  good  spot  for  sport ;  nor  were  we  disap 
pointed,  as  Lake  Champlain  abounds  with  rare  and  delicate 
fish  of  all  kinds.  At  our  guide's  pressing  request  I  then 
rode  out  to  his  farm,  a  few  miles  from  Burlington,  to  dine 
with  him.  Here,  having  walked  me  about  his  grounds 
two  or  three  hours,  in  order  to  give  me  an  appetite,  he  set 
me  down  to  pork  and  beans,  with  their  everlasting  accom 
paniment  of  molasses,  to  be  washed  down  by  a  jug  of 
sparkling  cider.  Then  followed  a  pumpkin  pie,  with 
some  peaches  and  melons  as  a  dessert,  the  whole  winding 
up  with  a  tumbler  apiece  of  old  St.  Croix  rum.  Such  was 
a  Vermont  dinner,  and  though  it  might  seem  to  an  English 
epicure  rather  an  odd  assemblage  of  sweets  and  sours,  I 
confess  that  my  appetite  at  the  time  was  too  good  to  find 
£  .fault  with  it.  The  farmer  was  a  good  sample  of  his  class, 
and  a  very  worthy  and  industrious,  though  prejudiced  and 
illiterate,  sort  of  body,  whose  language  and  ideas  were 
eminently  characteristic  of  the  Northern  American.  As 
he  luckily  touched  neither  upon  politics  nor  agriculture, 
excusable  as  the  latter  would  have  been  in  a  man  of  his 
profession,  I  was  spared  the  trial  of  listening  to  accounts 
of  how  many  British  were  thrashed  in  one  place,  or  how 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  325 

much  corn  in  another.  Far  different  from  these  was  the 
farmer's  favorite  theme,  which  was  certainly,  for  him, 
rather  a  singular  one,  being  none  other  than  literature, 
upon  which  subject  he  took  every  opportunity  of  discours 
ing,  with  some  degree  of  fluency,  and  in  a  manner  which 
well  brought  out  his  character.  Having  no  objection  my 
self  to  this  topic,  he  found  in  me  an  amused  as  well  as  sur 
prised  listener;  so,  sipping  a  mouthful  of  his  liquor,  he 
locked  his  toes  in  the  under  rail  of  his  chair  legs,  and 
hooking  his  thumbs  in  the  armholes  of  his  waistcoat,  threw 
himself  back  against  the  wainscot  and  enunciated  his 
opinions  in  that  particular  tone  which  I  have  often  ob 
served  in  such  talkers,  mingling  the  pride  of  simplicity 
with  the  authority  of  indifference.  In  the  first  place  he 
informed  me  that  he  reckoned  himself  a  tolerable  good 
scholar,  having  been  soundly  instructed  in  the  knowledge 
of  those  two  instruments  of  literature — reading  and  writ 
ing,  besides  a  branch  of  geometry,  viz.,  arithmetic.  Then 
he  "  always  'voted  his  evenin's  to  readin'  and  larnin',"  and 
besides  the  constant  perusal  of  three  books  in  his  own  pos 
session,  namely,  the  Bible,  the  almanac,  and  the  dictionary, 
he  took  in  a  weekly  paper  and  regularly  rode  over  to  Bur 
lington  once  a  fortnight  to  see  what  there  might  be  new 
and  cleverish  in  the  book-store.  "Now,"  he  continued, 
"I've  read  Goldsmith's  '  History  of  Rome  ;'  that's  rather  a 
cute  book,  I  reckon,  and  I  like  it  much.  And  then  there's 
them  volumes  of  Josephus — ha'n't  you  never  read  'em? 
they're  considerably  well  done,  I  think.  And  then  there's 
the  Nat'ral  History,  Buchan's  'Mcd'cin,'  and  Lindley  Mur 
ray's  Grammar,  and  some  more  of  the  like  I  know  well. 
Them  are  all  judgmatical  books,  I  reckon.  What  do  you 
think  on  'em  ?  I  never  have  read  no  rumances  or  poetry, 
but  two — 'Pilgrim's  Progress'  and  t Robinson  Crusoe;' 
don't  see  there's  much  genius  in  'em;  them  are  too  'be 
littling  '  as  Mr.  Jefferson  says,  for  a  man  to  read."  With 


326  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

such  a  stock  of  information,  of  course,  the  farmer  con 
sidered  himself  a  literary  man,  and  was  of  opinion  that 
one  was  able,  after  all,  to  get  quite  a  sufficient  "  lot  of  lam- 
in'  "  without  going  to  any  extraordinary  trouble  or  expense 
for  it.  Classical  acquirements  he  ridiculed  altogether, 
because  "  what,  in  all  creation,  had  livin'  people  to  do  with 
dead  languages  ?"  while  he  looked  on  all  colleges  and  uni 
versities  as  nothing  more  than  aristocratical  institutions, 
expensive  without  utility,  and  very  unfit  for  a  free  coun 
try  like  the  "  States,"  since  they  shut  out  the  poor  from 
instruction  only  to  receive  the  sons  of  the  highborn  and 
rich  to  make  them  acquainted,  under  the  show  of  study, 
with  the  vices  of  gaming,  drinking,  and  wenching.  Thus 
declaimed  my  eccentric  but  worthy  entertainer,  until,  at  a 
very  late  hour,  I  bade  him  farewell,  saddled  my  horse  and 
rode  back  to  Burlington. 

Though  our  performance  here  was  pretty  well  attended, 
yet,  as  it  did  not  equal  our  expectations,  we  gave  out  a 
second,  rather  more  attractive,  but  which  did  little  better. 
At  this  Powell  gave  in,  thoroughly  disappointed  with  the 
excursion,  which  had  merely  paid  our  expenses,  and  re 
solved  to  return  to  Boston  instead  of  proceeding  any  far 
ther.  Dickinson  coincided  with  him,  having  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  we  were  too  many  for  any  country  town 
to  remunerate  properly;  and  the  others  being  of  the  same 
opinion,  they  agreed  to  form  a  party  and  take  a  circuit 
northward  by  themselves.  Thus  I  was  left  alone  to  pros 
ecute  the  intended  trip  to  Albany  and  the  Springs.  I 
did  not  despair,  nevertheless,  thinking  that  perhaps,  after 
all,  the  arrangement  might  prove  to  my  advantage. 

In  order  to  provide  myself  with  cash  I  disposed  of  my 
horse  and  carriage,  the  latter  at  cost  price,  the  former  for 
one  hundred  dollars,  having  only  given  thirteen  for  him. 
Horses  have  been  through  life  one  of  the  few  things  in 
which  I  have  been  lucky,  either  in  purchasing  or  selling. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  327 

Fortunately,  too,  a  gentleman  whom  I  had  met  with  at 
the  inn,  and  who  was  proceeding  to  Albany  with  his  new 
ly-married  wife  in  a  light  pleasure  wagon,  made  me  and 
Mrs.  Bernard  a  friendly  offer  to  bear  them  company,  a 
proposal  to  which  I  agre.ed  with  much  pleasure. 

As  the  horses,  decked  each  with  a  row  of  bells  on  its 
collar,  were  young,  spirited  animals,  the  wagon  ran  light 
ly  on  springs,  the  weather  was  extremely  fine,  the  roads 
good,  and  the  country  we  passed  through  green  and  lux 
uriant,  everything  seemed  to  unite  to  render  this  ride,  a 
distance  of  nearly  a  hundred  miles,  very  agreeable.  We 
slept  the  first  night  at  an  inn  on  the  road,  where  we  not 
only  met  with  good  accommodation,  but  also  with  what 
was  rather  a  curiosity,  namely,  a  private  museum.  This 
had  been  the  collection  of  some  unknown  virtuoso,  whose 
name  even  I  could  not  learn,  and  who  had  found  valuable 
resources  for  his  purpose  in  the  unexplored  and  hardly- 
spoken-of  regions  of  the  interior  of  the  States.  It  con 
tained  a  large  gathering  of  rarities  in  mineral  and  vegeta 
ble  productions,  insects  and  reptiles,  which  had  evidently 
cost  some  trouble  and  expense  to  obtain,  and  which,  if  I 
could  at  all  rely  on  the  opinion  of  my  friend,  who  professed 
to  be  acquainted  with  the  subject,  exhibited  much  knowl 
edge  and  taste  in  their  arrangement.  America,  although 
the  country  which  of  all  others  presents,  from  its  newness, 
a  fine  field  of  research  to  the  connoisseur  and  of  descrip 
tion  to  the  poet,  is  at  present  rather  exclusively  the  sphere 
of  scientific  and  commercial  genius.  No  doubt,  there 
fore,  the  person  who  adopted  such  a  pursuit  as  had  been 
here  followed  occasioned  no  little  surprise  to  his  neigh 
bors,  and  met  with  some  ridicule  for  the  unprofitable 
manner  in  which  he  employed  his  money,  not  suffer 
ing  it  to  accumulate  in  a  bank,  or  putting  it  out  to  the 
common  uses  of  trade,  but  actually  converting  it  into 
odd-looking  stones  and  dead  insects,  of  no  intrinsic  or 


328  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

exchangeable  value  whatever.  Then,  too,  the  idea  of  a 
man's  affording  so  much  rubbish  the  best  room  in  his 
house,  and  seeming  to  derive  so  much  pleasure  from  in 
specting  and  arranging  them !  At  this  gentleman's  death 
he  left  his  house  and  museum  to  a  relative,  who,  not  pos 
sessing  similar  tastes  to  himself,  very  much  undervalued 
his  acquisitions,  and  sold  both  to  the  present  occupant, 
who  turned  the  house  into  an  inn  and  the  museum  into  a 
public  exhibition. 

On  reaching  Salem,  a  neat  little  town,  somewhat  smaller 
than  its  namesake  in  Massachusetts,  we  put  up  at  an  inn 
kept  by  Dr.  Allen,  a  physician.  Here  I  met  with  an  agree 
able  surprise.  Some  person  who  had  lately  been  on  a 
lecturing  tour  in  this  direction  had  assumed  my  name,  but 
being  very  deficient  in  talent,  suspicion  arose,  from  my 
known  popularity,  that  he  wras  an  impostor.  As  we  drove 
through  the  town  some  one  recognized  me,  and  the  news 
getting  abroad,  before  we  had  been  housed  half  an  hour  a 
dozen  inquirers  dropped  in  to  know  if  I  were  the  real 
Simon  Pure.  This  seeming  a  good  hint  to  me  to  perform, 
I  sent  out  my  bills  for  that  evening,  and  was  very  well 
received. 

Our  medical  host  was  a  conversable  and  rather  clever 
man,  though  noted  for  one  peculiarity  which  more  often 
raised  a  laugh  against  than  with  him.  He  had  an  only 
story,  which,  like  parents  with  an  only  child,  he  took 
pleasure  in  bringing  forward  on  every  occasion.  The 
humor  of  the  matter,  for  one  who  was  aware  of  his  pro 
pensity,  lay  in  observing  the  various  modes  he  would  adopt 
to  make  an  opening  for  its  introduction.  A  man  with 
one  story  is  not  a  very  unusual  character  in  society,  and  is 
generally,  I  think,  an  amusing  one.  I  read  once,  in  some 
old  volume  of  essays,  of  one  who,  being  a  man  of  property 
and  in  the  habit  of  seeing  much  company,  used  to  keep 
two  or  three  fowling-pieces  ready  loaded  in  his  house, 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  329 

which  his  servants  were  ordered  to  discharge  several  times 
a  day  about  his  grounds,  just  to  supply  him  with  a  cue  for 
telling  his  story,  a  device  which  served  his  purpose  very 
well  at  first,  but  in  the  end  ruined  him,  owing  to  the  ex 
pense  he  was  at  for  gunpowder.  The  doctor  had  no  such 
costly,  preconcerted  signal,  his  ingenious  brain  suggesting 
ever-new  pretexts  for  the  repetition  of  his  favorite  anec 
dote.  Of  its  general  applicability  the  reader  may  judge 
when  I  thus  retail  it.  The  doctor  had  a  particular  friend 
in  the  town  who  had  hired  a  highly-recommended  Massa 
chusetts  man  to  take  charge  of  his  garden,  and  was  him 
self  very  fond  of  assisting  in  this  work.  One  day,  while 
pruning  a  tree  in  his  orchard,  with  the  gardener  standing 
by,  his  hand  which  held  the  knife  slipped  and  inflicted  so 
severe  a  wound  on  his  leg  that  the  blood  gushed  from  it 
in  a  torrent.  His  helper,  looking  on  quite  coolly,  merely 
remarked:  "Them  stockings,  I  reckon,  squire,  are  worth 
three  and  sixpence  a  pair;  how  unfortunate  to  spoil  'em!" 
At  Albany  we  parted  with  our  friends,  and  set  off  the 
next  morning  by  stage  for  Balston  and  Saratoga  Springs. 
From  the  medicinal  properties  of  these  waters  and  their 
agreeable  situation  in  the  midst  of  a  fine  country,  they  are 
now  becoming  the  summer  point  of  attraction  to  all  the 
gentry  of  the  States  who  leave  home  either  for  health  or 
pleasure.  Powell  and  I  thought,  therefore,  that  they 
would  support  the  establishment  of  a  theatre  for  a  few 
\veeks  in  the  season,  and  the  object  of  my  present  visit 
was  to  ascertain  how  far  such  a  plan  might  be  likely  to 
succeed.  This  year  there  was  so  great  an  overflow  of 
visitors  that  I  had  great  difficulty  in  procuring  accom 
modation  for  my  wife  and  self,  from  which  fact  I  augured 
favorably.  I  was  so  fortunate,  too,  as  to  meet  at  the  prin 
cipal  hotel  with  Governor  Crawford,  Judge  Kelly,  from 
Annapolis,  and  Mr.  Pinkney,  the  member  of  Congress, 
who  took  the  matter  in  hand  for  me  with  the  most  friend- 


330  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

ly  readiness.  The  result  of  their  inquiries,  however,  was 
contrary  to  what  I  expected,  for  they  advised  me  to  de 
cline  the  business  altogether,  since  from  the  small  number 
of  residents,  the  great  uncertainty  of  the  seasons,  and  the 
distance  between  Boston  and  the  Springs,  which  must  in 
evitably  render  our  travelling  expenses  very  heavy,  the 
chances  of  success  were  against  us.  With  thanks  for  their 
kindness,  we  took  their  advice.  I  gave  a  night's  entertain 
ment  at  the  Springs,  which,  owing  to  the  numerous  and 
potential  friends  I  had  met  with  there,  was  brilliantly  at 
tended,  and  then  returned  in  good  spirits  to  Albany.  In 
this  city,  which  was  afterwards  to  be  the  scene  of  my  man 
agement,  I  made  my  debdt  as  a  lecturer,  and  was  well 
pleased  with  my  reception. 

-  Steamboats  were  now  running  on  the  Hudson  between 
New  York  and  Albany,  and  from  their  elegance,  certainty, 
and  convenience,  no  less  than  their  novelty,  were  eagerly 
resorted  to.  I  must  confess  that  I  felt  them  to  be  the 
most  surprising  and  delightful  conveyances  I  had  ever  be 
held.  Unluckily  for  us,  however,  so  great  was  the  throng 
of  passengers  that  we  found  all  the  berths  already  taken 
in  the  first  boat  that  sailed,  so  that  we  had  no  resource 
but  to  go  by  the  sailing-packet.  As,  however,  we  met 
unexpectedly  some  agreeable  companions  on  board,  who 
seemed,  like  myself,  to  have  plenty  of  time  on  their  hands, 
with  proper  disposition  to  enjoy  it,  wre  had  a  most  pleasant 
trip.  We  were  specially  favored  by  the  gentle  humor  of 
old  JEolus,  who  wafted  rather  than  blew  us  along,  per 
mitting  us  to  sit  under  an  awning  on  the  deck  and  enjoy 
the  luxuriant  and  picturesque  appearance  of  the  banks; 
and,  when  we  had  reached  the  Highlands,  to  take  leisure 
ly  views  of  some  of  the  most  romantic  spots  to  be  wit 
nessed,  perhaps,  in  America.  Though,  therefore,  we  were 
full  five  days  in  performing  the  distance,  which  the  steam 
boat  would  have  done  in  thirty-six  hours,  yet  every  one 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  331 

but  the  captain  thought  our  dilatory  progress  a  singular 
advantage,  and  to  this  hour  I  remember  my  first  sail  upon 
the  Hudson  as  the  most  delightful  of  all  my  voyages, 
whether  on  sea  or  streams. 

The  object  of  my  visit  to  New  York  was  to  engage  Mrs. 
Woodham,  an  actress  singularly  clever,  both  in  comedy 
and  melodrama,  Mrs.  Stanley  having  accepted  an  engage 
ment  from  the  Charleston  management  on  rather  higher 
terms  than  we  could  afford.  The  latter  was  the  superior 
actress  in  her  special  line,  but  Mrs.  Woodham  was  the 
more  versatile,  and  played  characters  of  greater  novelty 
and  attraction.  I  renewed  the  engagement  with  John 
Darley,  Sr.,*  whose  English  ballad-singing  was  so  delight 
ful  and  well  appreciated.  I  likewise  came  to  terms  with 
Mr.  Mills,  since  we  could  no  longer  depend  at  all  upon 

*  JOHN  DARLEY,  Sr.,  was  originally  a  bucket-maker  in  Birmingham,  Eng 
land.  He  possessed  a  remarkably  fine  voice,  and  appeared  in  concert,  and 
afterwards  upon  the  regular  stage  in  his  own  country.  He  was  not  dis- " 
tinguished  as  an  actor ;  but  as  a  singer  of  English  ballads  he  is  said  to 
have  been  equalled,  in  his  day,  only  by  Incledon.  He  was  carried  to  America 
by  Wignell,  with  his  son,  John  Darley,  Jr.,  in  1793,  and  first  appeared  in 
Annapolis,  Md.  In  1796  he  was  in  New  York,  but  at  the  end  of  ten  or 
twelve  years  he  returned  to  England,  where  he  died  in  1819. 

The  younger  Darley,  after  singing  in  concert  with  his  father,  saw  some 
service  in  the  United  States  Navy,  married  the  beautiful  and  brilliant  Ellen 
West  ray  and  returned  to  the  stage  in  1804,  sustaining  the  leading  parts  in 
English  opera  without  a  rival  in  America  for  many  years.  He  retired  with 
a  competency  in  1840,  and  died  in  1853. 

John  Darley,  Sr.,  was  the  son  of  Matthew  Darley,  a  somewhat  eccentric 
but  talented  painter,  engraver,  and  etcher  of  the  school  of  Hogarth,  and 
particularly  celebrated  as  a  caricaturist.  There  is  extant  a  rare  portrait 
of  him,  painted  and  engraved  by  himself,  in  which  the  family  resemblance 
can  readily  be  traced.  No  mention  is  anywhere  made  of  the  artistic  abil 
ities  of  either  his  son  or  his  grandson,  but  several  sons  of  the  younger 
John  Darley  have  been  artists,  the  most  distinguished  of  them  being  the 
Felix  0.  C.  Darley  of  to-day — a  marked  instance  of  the  transmission  of 
genius. 


332  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Caulfield,  and  this  new  accession  proved  the  cleverer  act 
or  of  the  two.  Having  also  engaged  his  wife  and  William 
Robertson,  we  then  immediately  took  the  packet  for  New 
Haven,  on  our  way  home;  and  as,  under  a  light  breeze,  our 
little  vessel  flew  along  like  a  sea-bird,  it  was  a  complete 
contrast  to  what  had  been  our  progress  down  the  Hudson. 
Not  being  pressed  for  time,  we  delayed  a  day  at  New  Haven 
in  order  to  pay  a  visit  to  Humphreysville,  the  estate  of  my 
sincere  and  valuable  friend,  General  Humphreys,  which 
was  situated  about  twelve  miles  from  that  town,  and  where 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  passing  most  of  the  summer.  As 
a  soldier,  a  diplomatist,  and  an  author,  the  general  has  ac 
quired  three  distinct  reputations,  any  one  of  which  alone 
would  have  handed  his  name  down  to  posterity;  but  he 
had  rendered  so  many  important  services  to  his  country 
that  his  claims  as  a  patriot  were  perhaps  greatest  of  all. 
He  was  the  original  importer  of  the  Merino  sheep  into 
America,  for  which  he  received  a  medal  from  the  Agricul 
tural  Society,  and  he  had  established  on  his  estate  several 
manufactories,  paper-mills,  etc.,  upon  improved  systems 
of  machinery  and  labor,  which  had  their  beneficial  effect 
upon  similar  works  in  general.  Meeting  with  a  cordial 
reception,  we  passed  the  day  with  him,  had  the  pleasure 
of  inspecting  his  grounds,  and  returned  in  the  evening  to 
jL  New  Haven.  As,  however,  the  next  day  was  Sunday,  and, 
according  to  the  laws  of  Connecticut,  it  was  criminal  to 


violate  Sabbath  rest  by  putting  one's  self  in  motion,  we 
were  constrained  to  abide  there  until  the  Monday  morning. 
Our  host  at  the  inn  was  a  very  communicative  and  humor 
ous  kind  of  man,  not  at  all  of  a  piece  with  the  inhabitants 
in  general,  and,  though  obliged  to  submit  to  the  laws  of 
the  place  in  which  he  lived,  by  no  means  backward  in  ex 
pressing  his  opinion  of  them  to  his  customers.  From  this 
oracle  I  gathered  some  further  information  as  to  the  work 
ing  of  the  famous  Blue  Laws.  As  is  well  known,  they 


MR.  DARLEY   AS   PERFORMING   IN   THE   ORCHESTRA 


AT   VACXHALL. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  333 

entirely  forbade  trade  or  travelling  upon  the  Sabbath;  so 
that  by  the  letter  of  the  law  all  goods  bought  or  sold  upon 
that  day  were  forfeited  to  the  state,  while  not,  on  the  most 
urgent  plea  of  necessity,  might  an  animal  be  permitted  to 
clink  his  profane  hoof  upon  the  Sabbatical  stones  of  New 
Haven.  From  the  growing  spirit  of  commerce  in  the 
country  at  large,  and  the  unlucky  situation  of  Connecti 
cut,  which  rendered  it  the  thoroughfare  for  business,  it 
was  found,  however,  to  be  every  day — or  rather  every 
seventh  day  —  a  more  difficult  task  to  carry  these  regu 
lations  into  effect.  Accordingly  a  multitude  of  peace- 
officers  under  the  various  titles  of  beadles,  constables,  and 
street-keepers,  were  posted  all  day  in  the  streets  and  ave 
nues,  to  enforce  strict  maintenance  of  that  quietude  which 
the  statutes  enjoined.  It  wTas  their  business  to  take  care 
that  no  person  appeared  without-doors  during  "  meeting 
time,"  and  on  the  entry  of  a  traveller  into  the  town,  im 
mediately  to  stop  him,  lead  his  horse  to  a  stable  and  him 
self  to  the  "  meeting." 

Thus  a  sense  of  duty  induced  them  to  violate  the  law 
themselves  in  order  to  compel  its  observance  by  others. 
The  deathlike  dulness  and  absolute  privation  of  sound 
which  prevailed  throughout  the  day  can  hardly  be  imag 
ined.  The  labor  of  eating  dinners,  prepared  on  the  pre 
vious  Saturday,  seemed  to  be  looked  on  as  a  lamentable 
necessity,  and  though  such  noises  as  coughing  and  sneez 
ing  were  excused  if  quite  spontaneous,  it  was  directly  for 
bidden  to  induce  them  by  taking  snuff,  or  carelessly  letting 
your  liquor  go  the  wrong  way.  I  know  not  whether  the 
chattering  of  a  man's  teeth  in  an  ague  fit  would  have  been 
considered  reprehensible,  but  in  the  case  of  your  hands 
becoming  dirty  I  am  persuaded  that  it  would  have  been 
held,  more  correct  to  let  them  remain  so  than  to  resort  to 
the  labor  of  using  soap,  water,  and  towel.  Under  the 
influence  of  this  mournful  contrast  to  the  pleasurable  tran- 


334  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

quillity  or  the  light-hearted,  innocent  gayety  of  a  Euro 
pean  Sunday  I  really  conceived  myself  abstracted  from 
the  world,  or,  rather,  like  the  personage  in  one  of  the 
Arabian  Tales  who  wandered  into  a  petrified  city  and  in 
the  midst  of  human  habitations  beheld  no  sign  of  life. 
But  while  every  noise  was  totally  suppressed  in-doors, 
what  does  my  reader  suppose  he  would  hear  or  observe 
were  he  to  take  his  seat  with  me  at  one  of  the  inn  win 
dows  and  survey  the  streets?  For  the  most  part  he  would 
hear  nothing,  for  when  the  inhabitants  were  allowed  to 
issue  from  their  doors  they  stole  about  the  highways  like 
so  many  sprites  or  like  the  mysterious  heroes  in  Mrs.  Rad- 
cliff's  romances,  so  light  were  their  movements  and  their 
steps  so  inaudible.  The  principal  object  in  sight  would 
be  those  guardians  of  the  peace  already  mentioned,  look 
ing  like  a  detachment  of  Cromwell's  body-guard  as  they 
march  to  and  fro  with  the  utmost  precision  and  solemnity, 
arrayed  in  the  square-cut  garments  which  betokened  their 
office.  Perhaps,  at  last,  some  luckless  pig  would  waddle 
forth  from  an  avenue  upon  a  muddy  research.  Alas,  his 
first  grunt  of  triumph,  as  he  lighted  upon  some  spoil,  would 
serve  as  a  signal  to  his  enemies,  one  of  whom  would  secure 
him  on  the  instant,  drive  him  ignominiously  home  to  his 
sty,  and  there  execute  retributive  justice  for  his  pagan  dis 
regard  of  sacred  ordinances  by  forthwith  despatching  him. 
Or  should  some  caitiff  dog,  or  even  thoughtless  puppy,  in 
profligate  contempt  of  the  law,  begin  frolicking  and  bark 
ing  in  the  road,  he  would  be  summarily  shot  upon  the 
spot.  Or  perhaps  some  gentleman  cat,  amorously  dis 
posed,  would  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  commence  an  ill- 
timed  feline  serenade  under  the  gutter  of  his  adored 
tabby;  the  vigilant  street-keepers,  attracted  by  the  sound, 
would  rush  to  the  place,  and  at  the  moment,  perhaps, 
when  a  tender  response  was  awakening  in  the  bosom  and 
the  throat  of  Grimalkin,  and  the  passionate  duetto  of  the 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  335 

hapless  pair  rising  to  a  climax,  both  would  be  assailed 
with  a  battery  of  staff  and  stones,  to  the  interruption  of 
their  loves  and  great  peril  of  their  lives.  The  plea  was 
manifest  that  "love's  labor"  could  no  more  be  permitted 
than  any  other  worker's.  On  the  inhabitants  proceeding 
to  and  from  meeting  these  careful  conservators  of  the  pub 
lic  tranquillity  had  to  take  cognizance  of  young  and  old, 
and  prevent  any  stoppages  or  chatterings  on  the  way,  a 
nod  on  such  occasions  being  considered  indecorous,  and  a 
shake  of  the  hand  a  tangible  impropriety. 

In  latter  years,  when  beginning  to  find  it  impossible  to 
restrain  altogether  the  current  of  intercourse  which  flowed 
through  their  state,  these  puritanical  worthies  resolved  to 
convert  the  restriction  into  a  source  of  pecuniary  profit, 
and  accordingly  permitted  a  man  to  pursue  his  journey 
on  payment  of  a  fine,  proportioned,  I  believe,  either  to 
the  number  of  his  horses  or  of  his  family.  A  sharp-witted 
Yankee,  returning  home  through  Connecticut,  was  stopped, 
therefore,  at  a  little  village,  and  requested  to  pay  the  fine, 
which  he  consented  to  do  if  he  were  taken  before  the 
magistrate  who  was  to  receive  it,  and  who  was  a  man  of 
great  property  and  extensive  mercantile  connections.  The 
Yankee,  tearing  a  leaf  from  his  pocket-book,  wrote  thereon 
a  few  words,  and  presenting  it  to  the  magistrate  with  the 
money,  requested  him  to  sign  a  receipt  for  the  few  shil 
lings,  in  order  that  he  might  not  be  called  on  to  pay  the 
fine  twice  over,  should  he  be  stopped  again  before  the 
morrow.  So  reasonable  a  request  being  unhesitatingly 
complied  with,  the  traveller  put  the  paper  in  his  pocket 
and  departed,  apparently  in  no  worse  humor  for  the  inter 
ruption  he  had  encountered.  About  ten  days  afterwards, 
business  calling  the  magistrate  to  Boston,  he  took  occa 
sion  to  step  into  his  banker's  to  look  over  his  account, 
when  they  informed  him  that  they  had  duly  honored  his 
last  week's  draft  for  one  hundred  dollars.  He  stared  in 


336  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

surprise.  They  produced  it  for  him,  and  he  immediately 
recognized  the  handwriting  of  the  Yankee,  with  his  sig 
nature  plainly  attached. 

I  arrived  in  Boston,  re-established  in  health,  and  not 
out  of  pocket,  by  one  of  the  pleasantest  excursions  I  had 
hitherto  undertaken  in  the  States.  The  company  being 
assembled,  we  opened  the  season  with  Mrs.  Woodham  as 
Frank  Heartall  and  the  Widow  Cheerly  to  a  very  brilliant 
audience,  presaging,  I  thought,  some  success,  though  false 
ly,  as  it  proved,  since  this  season,  in  villainous  imitation 
of  its  predecessors,  did  not  even  pay  its  expenses.  Our 
hopes  had  been  buoyed  up  in  one  way  or  another  till  its 
close,  when,  the  unmistakable  deficit  staring  us  in  the  face, 
we  had  no  other  consolation  than  that  of  reflecting  that, 
if  we  were  so  many  hundred  dollars  in  debt,  it  was  not 
owing  to  any  want  of  exertion  on  our  part.  Mills  and 
Mrs.  Woodham  had  succeeded  very  well,  while  Caulfield 
had  nevertheless  kept  his  ground  in  public  favor,  owing 
to  the  numerous  acquaintances  he  had  made ;  and  I  now 
wrote  to  Mrs.  Stanley,  in  hopes  of  engaging  her  on  rather 
lower  terms  than  she  had  demanded.  Green  had  not 
joined  us,  but  continued  with  Mrs.  West;  Usher,  whom  I 
had  taken  from  among  the  supernumeraries  at  Philadel 
phia  and  advanced  to  a  situation  in  Boston,  had  returned 
from  Quebec  to  engage  some  of  our  company,  but  only 
applied  to  those  we  could  well  dismiss.  From  his  father, 
in  Kentucky,  1  received  another  letter,  pressing  me  to 
undertake  a  speculation  in  that  quarter,  and  pointing  out 
the  particular  towns  which  would  form  a  profitable  cir 
cuit.  I  had,  however,  two  seasons  yet  to  sustain  in  Bos 
ton,  and  the  great  distance  to  the  back  countries  sug 
gested  a  hundred  difficulties,  which  I  did  not  like  to  en 
counter.  Barrett  was  out  of  employment  at  New  York; 
Cooper  starring  at  Philadelphia;  Mrs.  Warren  still  attrac 
tive;  poor  Bates,  a  restless,  visionary  fellow,  engaged  to 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  337 

us  for  a  few  nights  and  a  benefit.  A  Mr.  Morse  made  his 
debtit  with  us  in  Osmond,  and  was  tolerably  successful; 
and  that  sad  speculator,  Fennell,  who  had  not  got  over 
his  saltworks  embarrassments,  wanted  to  perform  for  a 
few  nights,  in  order  that  by  paying  his  deluded  creditors 
a  trifle  he  might  keep  them  from  putting  his  honorable 
person  in  "  durance  vile."  Since  that  speculation  he  had 
attempted  another — an  academy  near  Boston  upon  a  very 
magnificent  scale.  Having  fixed  upon  a  suitable  house 
and  grounds,  he  proceeded  to  make  designs  for  reading- 
rooms,  lecture-rooms,  class-rooms,  etc.,  without  having  a 
shilling  in  his  pocket  to  carry  out  such  schemes;  but  no 
sooner  was  the  pleasant  work  of  planning  over  than  he 
immediately  wearied  of  the  whole  affair.  Such  was  the 
state  of  theatricals,  as  connected  with  ourselves,  at  the 
close  of  the  year  1808. 

Our  musical  parties  were  in  as  great  vogue  as  ever  this 
season,  though  we  had  no  new  members,  and,  as  usual,  I 
had  a  multiplicity  of  invitations  to  dinners,  etc.,  but,  fear 
ing  for  my  health,  continued  to  reside  at  "The  Lodge" 
until  winter  set  in,  when  I  removed  with  my  family  into 
town.  The  road  out  to  Dorchester,  over  the  "  Neck,"  as 
it  is  called,  was  at  this  time  even  dangerously  bad,  and  in 
my  daily  drives  into  town  I  had  to  practise  a  difficult  kind 
of  land  navigation  in  steering  the  gig  clear  of  an  immense 
bank  of  stones  and  mud  on  one  side,  while  with  hair 
breadth  exactness  I  skirted  the  brink  of  an  unfathomable 
gully  on  the  other.  These  rides  acquainted  me  with  a 
laughable  incident  connected  with  the  state  of  the  neigh 
borhood.  ,  • 

A  gentleman  residing  on  the  "  Neck  "  had  a  slough  be 
fore  his  door  of  such  depth  and  dimensions  as  to  render 
his  house  all  but  inaccessible.  A  "  select  committee " 
having  been  appointed  for  the  repair  of  this  highway,  he 
had  applied  repeatedly  to  have  the  slough  in  question 

15 


338  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  ' 

filled  up;  but  their  only  answer,  from  week  to  week,  was: 
"By  and  by,  dear  sir.     But  we  really  cannot  stir  in  the 
matter  at  present."     One  morning,  after  a  heavy  rainfall, 
the  slough  overflowed,  and  pretty  well  completed  the  im 
prisonment  of  the  gentleman  in  his  own  house.     There 
was,  however,  solace  in  store  for  his  captivity.     It  hap 
pened  the  same  day  that  some  business  called  two  of  the 
"selectmen"  from  town,  and  their  route  lay  over  the 
"  Neck."    Driving  by  in  a  gig  at  a  furious  rate,  and  with 
some  heedlessness,  their  wheel  slid  into  the  gully  as  they 
were  passing  it,  and  in  an  instant  the  gig  was  upset,  and 
both  of  them  precipitated  into  the  filth  up  to  their  mid 
dles.    The  gentleman  at  the  adjacent  house,  happening  to 
be  at  his  window,  was  a  witness  of  this  retributive  acci 
dent,  and  throwing  up  his  sash  as  they  were  attempting 
to  scramble  out  of  the  pool,  called  out  to  them  laughing 
ly:  "Thank  you,  gentlemen;  thank  you.     I  see  you  are 
really  'stirring  in  the  matter'  at  last!" 

The  season  proceeded  with  little  spirit,  and  we  lost  an 
excellent  friend  to  the  theatre  by  the  death  of  Governor 
Sullivan.  Shortly  after,  however,  I  brought  forward  a 
play  in  three  acts,  entitled  "  The  Pilgrims,  or  the  Landing 
of  our  Forefathers,"  which  locality  alone  would  have  ren 
dered  a  success,  as  many  of  the  descendants  of  the  first 
settlers  were  still  residing  in  Boston,  but,  supported  by  a 
strong  company,  the  little  merit  it  possessed  was  favorably 
recommended  to  the  public.  It  proved,  as  I  had  antici 
pated,  "  a  good  card,"  and,  when  everything  else  failed, 
drew  tolerable  houses  to  the  close  of  the  season.  At 
Christmas  I  received  an  invitation  to  visit  New  York 
during  our  month's  recess  at  home,  but  declined  it  from 
apprehensions  with  regard  to  health.  Mrs.  Stanley  arrived 
in  Boston  from  a  country  circuit  she  had  been  taking; 
but  as  we  could  not  agree  upon  terms,  she  quitted  us  for 
a  lucrative  and  agreeable  situation  in  the  Canadas,  to  per- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  339 

form  there  in  private  with  the  military  amateurs.  By  the 
letters  I  received  I  learned  that  theatricals  were  in  a  most 
lamentable  state  all  over  the  continent.  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  were  not  paying  their  expenses,  Charleston 
even  worse,  and  Mrs.  West's  circuit  in  Virginia  was  done 
up  altogether.  Thus  we  had  abundance  of  that  negative 
consolation  which  some  people  pretend  to  derive  from  the 
reflection  that  there  are  others  as  badly  or  worse  off  than 
themselves.  At  last  the  season  came  to  a  close,  nothing 
particular  having  distinguished  it  except  the  dcbtit  of 
Master  Payne,  the  "American  Roscius,"  in  April,  1809, 
which  created  some  sensation  in  the  theatrical  world.* 

As  the  spring  advanced  I  removed  my  wife  to  "  The 
Lodge,"  and,  as  she  was  unable  to  travel,  passed  the  sum 
mer  in  visiting  the  towns  within  a  hundred  miles  of  Bos 
ton,  returning  homo  at  the  end  of  every  two  or  three 
weeks,  and  thus  passing  my  time  both  profitably  and 
pleasantly.  The  only  incident  I  remember  now  of  those 
rambles  is  the  following:  Among  other  places  I  paid  a 
visit  to  Newport,  with  letters  of  recommendation  to  Mr. 
Baring,  of  London,  from  whose  family  I  had  received 
attentions  in  my  early  days.  I  had  a  very  brilliant  at 
tendance  at  night,  and  among  my  auditors  a  very  infirm 
old  gentleman,  who  was  more  or  less  lame,  blind,  and 
deaf.  When  I  began  my  favorite  recitation  of  "The 
Three  Warnings,"  this  gentleman  seemed  to  pay  particu 
lar  attention,  but  when  I  came  to  the  lines 

*  JOHN  HOWARD  PAYNK,  remembered  as  the  author  of  u  one  immortal 
song,"  was  also  the  author  of  many  plays  which  are  now  almost  forgotten, 
and  as  the  Boy  Actor,  the  first  of  a  long  line  of  infant  phenomena  in  Amer 
ica,  he  met  with  marvellous  success  throughout  the  United  States.  lie  made 
his  first  appearance  as  Young  Xorval,  in  u  Douglas,"  at  the  Park  Theatre, 
New  York,  in  1800,  and  played  the  part  in  Boston  in  the  same  year.  lie 
appeared  in  London,  still  as  Young  Norval,  in  1818,  but  as  he  grew  in 
years  lie  declined  in  grace  as  an  actor,  and  soon  retired  from  the  stage. 


340  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

"  The  unwelcome  messenger  of  Death 
Once  more  before  him  stood," 

he  fell  back  in  bis  chair,  uttered  a  slight  shriek,  and  faint 
ed.  He  was  carried  out  immediately,  and  soon  restored 
to  his  senses,  but  did  not  return  to  the  entertainment. 
This  circumstance  unavoidably  threw  a  gloom  over  the 
company,  which,  for  some  time,  not  all  my  humorous 
efforts  could  remove,  till  at  last  another  incident  as  much 
befriended  as  the  other  had  distressed  me.  Among  my 
comic  recitations  was  Cowper's  "John  Gilpin,"  and  no 
sooner  had  I  commenced  this  than  a  loud  and  general 
shout  of  laughter  ran  round  the  room,  which  kept  increas 
ing  as  I  proceeded.  At  length  I  discovered  the  cause. 
Mr.  John  Gilpin,  a  merchant  and  resident  in  the  town, 
occupied  a  front  seat,  and  having  a  wife  who  was  rather 
fond  of  him,  the  story  suggested  to  the  minds  of  the 
assembly  sundry  humorous  coincidences.  The  object  of 
this  merriment  bore  it  with  the  best  humor  imaginable, 
laughing  himself  at  all  the  points,  and  thus  quite  disarm 
ing  any  who  might  have  been  satirically  disposed. 

The  season  of  1809-10  commenced  with  very  inauspi 
cious  prospects,  and  verified  our  worst  apprehensions  as  it 
proceeded.  Various  novelties  prepared  during  the  recess 
were  brought  forward  at  much  expense  and  with  able  per 
formers,  but  comparatively  failed;  and  the  opera,  upon 
which,  from  the  musical  disposition  of  the  town,  we  had 
placed  great  dependence,  though  supported  by  Webster, 
John  Darley,  Mrs.  Mills,  Mrs.  Claude  Dickinson,  and  my 
self,  never  did  more  than  draw  the  expenses.  This  was 
the  more  grievous  since  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and 
Charleston  had  all  by  this  time  recovered  from  their  de 
pression,  and  were  now  playing  to  $1000  nightly.  From 
the  losses  I  had  hitherto  sustained,  and  the  gloomy  pros 
pects  before  me,  I  began  now  bitterly  to  reproach  myself 
for  having  meddled  with  management,  and  wasted  five  of 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  341 

the  most  valuable  years  of  my  life  in  merely  getting  my 
livelihood,  when  I  ought  to  have  been  realizing  an  inde 
pendence.  But  this  cannot  interest  my  reader. 

We  expected  Cooper  and  Master  Payne  to  join  us  soon, 
and  in  the  interim  we  produced  with  great  eclat  a  comedy, 
by  Mr.  White,  of  Boston,  the  author  inducing  us  to  engage 
Fennell,  who  was  then  in  town,  to  perform  one  of  the  char 
acters.  Robert  Treat  Paine  wrote  a  prologue  for  it  in  his 
usual  inimitable  manner,  which  I  agreed  to  speak;  but, 
from  Paine's  negligent  habit,  I  only  received  it  on  Satur 
day,  and,  finding  it  one  hundred  and  eighty  lines  in  length, 
I  sent  it  back  to  him  with  an  assurance  that  I  could  not 
get  perfect  in  it  so  as  to  do  it  justice  by  the  Monday  even 
ing  when  the  comedy  was  to  be  produced.  Fennell  hap 
pening  to  be  with  him  when  this  message  arrived,  prompt 
ly  offered  to  recite  it  himself,  a  proposal  which  Paine 
caught  at  with  pleasure.  Fennell  took  the  prologue  home 
with  him  to  study,  but  when  the  evening  came  did  not  know 
a  syllable  of  it,  and,  coming  forward  to  the  audience,  craved 
their  permission  to  read  it.  After  some  hesitation  this 
was  granted,  and  Fennell  delivered  the  lines,  sparkling 
as  they  were  with  wit  and  humor,  with  so  much  of  the 
correctness  of  the  scholar  and  the  stateliness  of  the  trage 
dian  as  to  throw  a  gloom  over  the  audience  which  it  took 
all  the  first  act  of  the  comedy  to  efface. 

One  day  I  was  called  out  from  rehearsal  to  speak  to  a 
gentleman  in  a  coach,  and,  opening  the  door,  discovered 
poor  Barrett*  in  a  sad,  emaciated  state.  Stretching  out 
his  shrivelled  hand  to  me,  he  exclaimed:  "Ah,  Johnny,  I 
am  come  to  die  with  you!"  though,  but  for  his  appearance, 
the  tone  in  which  he  spoke  would  have  induced  me  to 

*  GILES  L.  BARRETT,  the  father  of  the  well-known  "Gentleman  George" 
Barrett,  was  a  popular  leading  actor  in  more  than  one  English  provincial 
theatre.  He  arrived  in  America  in  1796,  but  was  past  his  prime,  and  never 
achieved  greatness  on  the  American  stage. 


342  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

think  he  was  jesting.  I  had  him  removed  to  some  lodg 
ings,  where  his  death  did  indeed  take  place  a  few  days 
after,  and  we  interred  the  once  famous  actor  in  a  now 
forgotten  grave. 

Being  invited  to  a  party  this  winter,  at  the  house  of 
General  Humphreys,  beneath  whose  social  and  hospitable 
roof  some  of  my  happiest  hours  were  passed,  the  conver 
sation  in  the  course  of  the  evening  turned  upon  Yankee 
characteristics,  and  several  gentlemen  present  afforded 
humorous  illustrations  of  the  one  by  which  they  are  chiefly 
distinguished — viz.,  ingenuity — relating  various  anecdotes, 
two  only  of  which  I  remember. 

A  Yankee,  performing  a  journey  through  the  back  coun 
tries  on  foot,  saw  two  horses  in  a  field  as  he  passed  along, 
one  of  which  he  determined  to  borrow  for  a  few  miles,  as 
he  was  feeling  very  weary.  Accordingly,  writing  in  pen 
cil  on  a  slip  of  paper  that  he  would  leave  the  beast  at  the 
next  town  on  the  road,  he  tied  the  note  to  one  horse's  fet 
lock,  and,  mounting  the  other,  with  merely  a  halter  for  a 
bridle,  rode  off  with  him.  This  transaction  happening  to 
be  observed,  an  alarm  was  given  to  the  owner  of  the 
animals,  who,  saddling  the  remaining  one,  without  paying 
any  attention  to  the  note  attached  to  its  leg,  rode  away 
after  the  unknown  borrower,  or,  as  he  considered  him, 
perhaps,  thief.  Unluckily  for  the  Yankee,  he  was  mounted 
on  a  slow  traveler  compared  with  the  steed  he  had  left  be 
hind,  and  he  soon  descried  with  some  consternation  a  rider 
behind  urging  a  powerful  beast  along  the  road  at  full 
speed,  evidently  in  pursuit  of  him.  Having  neither  whip 
nor  spur,  he  found  it  a  difficult  matter  to  impel  the  horse 
lie  rode  beyond  its  usual  pace,  and  his  pursuer,  therefore, 
had  every  chance  of  coming  up  with  him  directly.  At 
this  moment  he  perceived  a  cottage  by  the  roadside  at  no 
great  distance,  towards  which,  by  blows  and  kicks,  he 
urged  his  steed  somewhat  faster,  the  farmer  gaining  on 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  343 

him  nevertheless  at  every  step.  Reaching  the  loor,  he 
dismounted,  and  went  in.  The  farmer,  riding  up  immedi 
ately  after  in  a  tremendous  passion,  threw  himself  off  his 
horse,  leaving  it  by  the  side  of  its  fellow,  and  ran  into  the 
cottage  to  seize  and  secure  the  thief.  The  Yankee,  how 
ever,  was  prepared  for  him.  Having  slipped  up-stairs,  he 
opened  the  front  window,  which  looked  out  upon  the  road, 
and  as  the  farmer  ran  into  the  house  let  himself  down  out 
side,  mounted  the  saddled  horse,  seized  the  other  by  the 
halter,  and  rode  off  securely  with  both.  The  hero  of  the 
second  story  was  at  least  as  ingenious.  A  new  liquor  ware 
house  opening  at  Boston  on  a  ready-money  and  low-price 
system,  Jonathan  walked  in  one  day  with  a  two-gallon 
keg  on  his  shoulder,  and  asked  for  a  gallon  of  the  best 
brandy.  The  liquor  having  been  poured  through  a  fun 
nel  into  his  keg  the  money  was  demanded.  Pretending 
ignorance  of  their  mode  of  doing  business,  the  Yankee  said 
that  he  would  pay  the  next  time  he  came  into  town.  The 
shopman  demurred,  saying  that  he  did  not  intend  to  give 
any  credit.  "But,"  asked  the  Yankee  in  mock  surprise, 
"  do  you  intend  to  take  back  the  brandy  ?" 

"  To  be  sure,"  replied  the  other,  "  if  you  don't  pay  for  it." 

"  Then,"  said  he,  "  you  must  bring  your  measure,  for  I 
had  some  liquor  of  my  own  in  the  keg." 

This  was  done,  a  gallon  of  the  contents  measured  back, 
and  the  fellow  marched  off  with  another  gallon  of  fine 
grog,  having  half  filled  his  keg  beforehand  with  water. 

Master  Payne  and  other  "stars"  now  visited  us,  and 
shed  a  temporary  glimmer  over  the  dulness  of  our  theatri 
cal  hemisphere;  but  we  had  little  relief  on  the  whole,  as 
the  darkness  only  seemed  greater  after  their  departure. 
At  length,  after  great  trouble  and  expense  in  getting  up, 
we  produced  the  fairy  romance  of  "  The  Forty  Thieves," 
which  proved  one  of  the  most  successful  hits  within  my 
knowledge,  and  by  the  crowded  audiences  it  drew  to  the 


344  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

end  of  the  season  in  some  measure  compensated  us  for 
preceding  losses,  enabling  me  to  pay  in  cash,  though  not 
in  gratitude,  the  generous  friend  who  had  helped  me. 

At  a  musical  party  I  was  introduced  to  a  Major  Henry, 
just  arrived  from  Canada,  who  urged  me  strongly  to  visit 
that  country,  and  try  to  establish  a  circuit.  Albany,  I 
was  aware,  I  could  procure  at  any  time,  and  on  this  con 
sideration  made  a  proposal  to  Powell  to  throw  up  my  share 
in  the  Boston  concern  for  $1200  and  a  benefit.  As,  how 
ever,  Dickinson  intended  proceeding  to  England  for  re 
inforcements,  and  I  meant  to  visit  Canada,  I  resolved  to 
form  my  final  determination  according  to  the  success  of 
the  ensuing  season. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Visit  to  Canada. — Anticipations.— A  Retired  Actress. — Vermont  Travel 
ling. — Wit  and  Humor. — Mixed  Society.— Whitehall  Table  Fray.— 
Democrat's  Estimate  of  Titles. — Steamboat  Pleasures  and  Terrors. — A 
Canadian  Vehicle.— Swamp  Stones. — Driver's  Test  of  Danger. — View  of 
Montreal. — The  Theatre. — Actors'  Rivalries. — An  Indian  Settlement. — 
Off  to  Quebec. — A  Canadian  Cottager. — General  Sheaf. — Universal 
Music. — A  Forger's  School. — A  Bateau  Party, — A  Lone  House  and  its 
Mistress;  Unexpected  Company  and  Unwelcome  Revelry. — Reception 
at  Quebec.—  Xew  Theatres  Proposed. — Amateurs  vs.  Professionals. — 
Last  Season  at  Boston. — Native  Dramatists. — Tom  Moore's  Sister-in- 
law. — "Femme  Propose." — George  Frederick  Cooke. — Heroes  and  Vil- 
lians. — Mossop. — Macklin  and  Cooke  compared. — Macklin  and  his 
Scotch  Schoolmaster. — Cooke's  Generosity  and  Eccentricity. — Kcmble's 
Portrait. — An  Intrusive  Fiddler  and  his  Punishment. 

OBTAINING  letters  from  my  best  friends  at  Boston,  I 
prepared  for  my  first  visit  to  Canada  this  summer  in  tol 
erable  spirits.  I  had  let  my  country-house  for  a  year, 
heard  a  favorable  account  of  my  property  in  Portland,  and 
had  a  new  field  open  before  me.  I  anticipated,  therefore, 
that  by  a  few  years'  exertion  I  should  yet  weather  the 
storm  of  difficulties  in  which  I  was  at  present  laboring, 
and  escaping  both  the  quicksands  of  extravagance  and  the 
rocks  of  despondency,  the  bark  of  the  dramatic  mariner 
might  yet  outlive  all  dangers  and  attain,  towards  the  close 
of  its  voyage,  a  fair  and  tranquil  haven. 

At  Grotton  we  made  our  first  halt  in  order  to  pay  a  visit 
of  a  few  hours  to  Mrs.  Moore  (late  Mrs.  Woodham*),  who, 

*  Mr.  and  Mrs.  WOODHAM  were  brought  to  Philadelphia  from  England, 
by  Wm.  Warren,  in  1805.  The  lady  was  very  beautiful  and  very  popular. 
She  played  such  parts  as  Volante  and  the  Widow  Chervley  at  the  Chestnut 

1,5* 


34G  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

with  her  new  husband,  a  solicitor,  had  retired  from  all  the 
cares  and  allurements  of  the  world  to  this  secluded  village. 
Pleased  as  I  was  to  see  her  happiness,  I  confess  that  it  sur 
prised  me,  considering  that  a  few  months  before  all  her 
pleasure  had  seemed  to  centre  in  her  profession.  When 
once  a  woman  makes  her  debdt  on  "the  Boards,"  from 
that  moment  her  talents  are  somehow  considered  as  public 
property,  in  which  every  individual  who  frequents  the 
theatre  conceives  he  has  a  share,  and  therefore  some  right 
of  controlling  her  disposal  of  them.  Thus  the  gallants  of 
Boston  felt  themselves  aggrieved  when  this  lady  quitted 
the  stage,  and  considering  their  amusement  paramount  to 
her  happiness,  thought  she  acted  improperly  in  gratifying 
one  man  at  the  expense  of  a  thousand.  I  believe  this  to 
be  a  very  general  feeling  in  such  cases. 

Brought  by  the  Burlington  stage  to  Rutland,  we  there 
engaged  a  man  to  drive  us  in  his  wagon  to  Whitehall,  to 
catch  the  steamer  which  started  thence  next  day,  and  this 
conclusion  of  our  journey  was  more  diabolical  and  temper- 
trying  than  all  I  had  ever  encountered  before.  The  road 
ran  either  through  swamps,  or  over  high,  stony,  almost  per 
pendicular  hills,  which  we  had  to  walk  up  in  order  to 
lighten  the  vehicle  as  much  as  possible,  and  which  we  pre 
ferred  to  walk  down,  because  our  driver,  saying  he  wanted 
to  "  make  up  for  los'  time,"  whenever  he  gained  the  top  of 
an  ascent  would  give  his  horses  the  whip  and  gallop  them 
headlong  to  the  bottom,  to  the  imminent  peril  of  every 
neck  concerned.  The  swamp  roads,  however,  were  still 
worse,  being  simply  made  by  throwing  cut-down  trees  of 
immense  circumference  across  the  track  at  equal  intervals, 
with  nothing  between,  so  that  our  wagon,  like  a  boat  on  a 
rough  sea,  had  always  one  end  up  and  one  down.  The 
said  wagon  was  a  mere  oblong,  unpainted  box,  with  three 

Street  house,  with  great  success.  She  was  in  New  York  in  1805,  and,  as 
Mrs.  Moore,  first  appeared  in  Boston  as  Lady  Teazle  in  1816. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  347 

seats  nailed  across,  and  without  springs  or  cushions,  a  lit 
tle  grease  on  the  wheels  supplying  the  place  of  the  former, 
and  a  scanty  sprinkling  of  straw  the  place  of  the  latter 
luxury,  while  the  horses  drew  us  along  at  a  villainous  jog 
trot,  too  slow  for  a  hackney  coach  and  too  fast  for  a  fu 
neral.  Our  driver  was  an  odd  compound  of  Yankee,  Ver- 
monter,  and  Hollander  ;  he  had  the  small,  gray,  twinkling 
eye,  and  the  twang  and  humor  of  the  first ;  the  "do-as-I- 
please"  physiognomy,  and  much  of  the  honest  principle  of 
the  second;  while  his  clumsy,  rotund,  ungenteel  figure  and 
quiet,  dilatory,  methodical  manners  were  decidedly  Dutch. 
He  united  these  threefold  characteristics  not  less  distinct 
ly  in  his  discourse;  for  from  the  abundance  of  his  guesses, 
calculations,  and  reckonings,  he  was  as  supposititious  and 
indecisive  as  any  New-Englander  ;  in  his  opinions  as  stub 
born  as  a  mule,  and  therefore  a  Vermonter ;  while  in  the 
style  of  his  delivery  he  savored  of  the  sluggish  Scheldt,  his 
words  coming  from  him  as  slowly  and  sparingly  as  though 
his  tongue  furnished  them  by  contract  and  was  not  sure  of 
being  paid.  I  would  that  I  could  amuse  my  reader  by  re 
peating  some  of  his  many  comical  remarks,  but  as  they  were 
humorisms  rather  than  witticisms,  which  were  suggested  by 
circumstances  of  the  time  and  place,  without  such  settings 
their  value  would  be  lost.  Wit,  consisting  of  ideas,  may 
be  considered  the  sterling  coin  of  literature,  of  intrinsic 
worth  and  exchangeable  in  all  civilized  countries;  while 
humor,  lying  rather  in  words,  may  be  termed  the  paper 
money  of  conversation,  and  of  only  relative  and  local 
value.  If  during  our  communications  our  driver  had  of 
fered  me  any  of  the  precious  metal,  I  might  have  offered 
it  again  to  my  reader  with  satisfaction;  but  as  we  ex 
changed  nothing  but  some  humorous  notes,  things  of  ac 
commodation  to  facilitate  intercourse,  in  another  place 
and  at  the  present  day  they  would  be  of  little  worth.  We 
certainly  had  time  to  become  acquainted,  for  though  wo 


348  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

had  started  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  did  not  fin 
ish  the  twenty-five  miles  of  our  journey  until  nearly  eleven, 
just  an  hour  after  the  steamer  had  taken  its  departure. 
We  had,  therefore,  to  wait  a  week  at  the  hotel  at  White 
hall,  till  the  boat  should  start  again. 

When  travelling  I  have  always  liked  to  meet  with  a 
motley  assemblage  of  people  for  the  sake  of  its  variety,  a 
liking  that  may  be  due  chiefly  to  my  profession.  In  the 
theatre  we  have  an  audience  in  boxes,  pit,  and  gallery,  and 
though  at  home  and  in  society  the  boxes  are  certainly  pref 
erable,  yet  when  abroad  and  rambling  about  a  proportion 
of  pit  and  gallery  are  no  less  desirable.  Society,  if  but  of 
one  kind,  allowing  it  to  be  the  most  elegant  and  amiable, 
would  have  soon  become  tiresome  to  me  if  I  could  never 
have  contrasted  it  with  what  was  of  a  lower  but  more 
diversified  character.  Even  had  the  inferior  grades  no  at 
tractive  features  in  themselves,  still  an  observation  of  them 
would  always  serve  to  set  off  the  superior,  as  the  lights  of 
a  picture  are  thrown  out  by  its  shadows;  but  I  am  inclined 
to  think  there  is  no  man  of  a  cheerful  and  true  English 
temperament,  like  myself,  who  does  not  occasionally,  after 
the  comedy  of  genteel  life,  covet  to  laugh  a  little  at  the 
broad  farce  of  lower  human  nature. 

At  Whitehall,  as  is  generally  the  case,  we  found  a  very 
odd  assemblage  of  "folks"  waiting  the  arrival  of  the 
steamboat  to  proceed  to  Canada  and  elsewhere.  Farmers 
going  to  purchase  on  the  lake,  tradesmen  to  try  settling 
in  some  new  town,  merchants  with  speculating  purposes, 
and  people  of  fortune  bent  merely  on  pleasure;  and  all 
these,  owing  to  the  enviable  system  of  things  in  this  part 
of  the  world,  mingling  together  with  little  or  no  distinction. 
The  table  d'hote  was  furnished  excellently,  owing  to  the 
great  abundance  of  fowl  and  fish  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
a  "  vast  concourse  of  people  "  sat  down  to  it,  most  of  the 
company  showing,  in  their  attentions  to  the  viands  and 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  349 

their  non-attention  to  anything  else,  what  it  was  that  they 
regarded  as  the  only  legitimate  purpose  in  coming  to 
table,  and  giving  such  an  answer  to  the  call  of  nature  as  I 
had  previously  had  no  conception  of.  The  landlord  and 
landlady  took  their  places  at  the  two  ends  of  a  board  large 
enough  to  have  dined  a  regiment  of  infantry,  in  order  to 
assist  such  of  the  guests  as  happened  to  be  within  a  cer 
tain  distance  of  them,  but  those  unfortunately  situated 
beyond  these  limits  were  left  to  their  own  resources. 
The  poets,  when  about  to  describe  a  battle  or  the  storming 
of  a  town,  usually  give  us  some  previous  information  as  to 
the  appearance  of  the  troops,  and  Shakespeare,  in  the  tent- 
scene  of  Richard,  very  beautifully  throws  the  sound  as  it 
were  into  our  ears  with  the  description  of  "  armorers 
closing  rivets  up  "  and  giving  "  a  dreadful  note  of  prepara 
tion."  Now  it  being  the  custom  here,  as  in  many  parts  of 
the  States,  to  sit  down  at  the  table  before  the  dinner  is 
placed  upon  it,  the  few  minutes'  interim  before  the  edible  at 
tack  was  to  begin  was  passed  at  first  in  silence  and  expecta 
tion.  I  looked  down  the  long  rows,  and,  as  far  as  I  could 
perceive,  every  individual  had  a  sharp,  lanky,  resolute  ex 
pression  of  countenance,  indicative,  at  least  just  then,  of  a 
"  tendency  to  consumption."  Then  suddenly  arose  the  glit 
ter  and  the  clash  of  steel,  every  man  seizing  his  knife  and 
fork  as  determinedly  as  he  might  a  sword  and  spear,  and, 
thus  armed,  giving  "  a  note  of  preparation"  by  sharpening 
the  former,  then  drawing  it  over  the  ball  of  the  thumb  to 
ascertain  its  precise  edge,  then  holding  it  up  in  a  variety 
of  positions  as  if  practising  some  particular  mode  of  as 
sault,  and  finally  exclaiming  with  satisfaction,  "  it's  plaguy 
good  stuff !"  But  a  noise  is  heard  in  the  passage,  and  every 
eye  turns  to  the  door.  It  opens,  and  in  marches  the  fat 
landlady,  with  a  score  of  blacks  after  her,  bearing  the  con 
sumables.  No  sooner  were  they  on  the  table  than  the 
onslaught  commenced  in  all  quarters,  and  a  more  terrific 


350  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

thing  of  the  sort  I  never  witnessed.  Such  hacking  and 
hewing,  cutting  and  thrusting,  breaking,  joint-dividing, 
winging  and  legging  of  geese  and  turkeys,  such  slicing 
and  sawing  of  beef  and  mutton,  such  harpooning  of  fish 
and  spiking  of  vegetables,  could  hardly  be  imagined,  much 
less  described.  And  this  amid  a  general  evacuation  and 
upset  of  salt-cellars  and  cruet-stands,  the  splashing  of 
oceans  of  gravy,  and  streaming  of  rivers  of  melted  butter. 
To  the  munching  and  crunching,  the  clatter  of  plates  and 
clash  of  table  weapons,  succeeded  sucking  of  thumbs  and 
smacking  of  lips,  and  then  each,  taking  a  potent  draught 
of  exhilarating  cider,  fell  to  again  as  resolutely  as  Macbeth, 
and  with  as  little  disposition  apparently  to  cry,  "  Hold — 
enough!"  Though  intending  to  be  a  participator,  I  was 
near  becoming  a  mere  spectator  of  this  novel  scene,  for 
the  noise  and  confusion  at  first  almost  overcame  me. 
Luckily  I  regained  my  presence  of  mind  time  enough  to 
take  part  in  the  fray.  Attacking  a  pullet  which  lay  as  yet 
untouched  before  me,  I  was  just  carefully  dividing  the 
breast  bone  from  the  back,  after  having  helped  Mrs.  Ber 
nard,  when  a  north-country  farmer  stuck  his  fork  into  its 
neck  and  made  a  violent  effort  to  draw  all  that  was  left  of 
the  bird  over  to  himself;  but  thus  compelled  to  do  battle 
for  my  dinner,  I  aimed  a  precise  blow  with  my  knife,  sev 
ered  the  fowl  cleverly  just  below  his  thrust,  and  conveyed 
it  en  masse  on  to  my  plate,  leaving  my  discomfited  adver 
sary  to  take  the  rest  home  to  his  if  he  chose.  In  about 
two  hours  the  appetites  of  the  company  seemed  to  be 
tolerably  satisfied,  and  the  ladies  left  the  table,  while  the 
men  called  for  liquor  and  made  themselves  comfortable. 

Throughout  the  evenings  the  public  room  was  filled  with 
guests,  and  a  great  deal  of  political,  agricultural,  and  com 
mercial,  besides  barometrical  and  thermometrical  conver 
sation  was  carried  on,  usually  either  too  profound  to  be 
understood  or  too  shallow  to  be  worth  attending  to.  One 


RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA.  351 

evening,  however,  a  spirited  dispute  took  place  between 
two  rough-looking  men  of  opposite  opinions  in  politics, 
which,  from  the  ignorant  vehemence  of  both,  became  very 
amusing.  One  of  them  was  very  severe  upon  all  aristocrat- 
ical  institutions,  ridiculing,  in  particular,  the  titles  of  dis 
tinction  which  prevail  throughout  Europe.  "Aha!"  he 
exclaimed,  "  in  them  'ere  places  I  reckon  they'll  call  a 
chap  '  highness  '  who  a'n't  not  above  five  feet  in  his  shoes; 
and  then  again  another  mister  ( excellency'  who  keeps  a 
gal,  perhaps,  and  never  goes  to  meetin'." 

At  length  the  packet  arrived,  and,  embarking  for  the 
first  time  in  our  lives  in  a  steamboat,  I  certainly  thought  it 
the  most  delightful  kind  of  conveyance  I  had  ever  tried,  al 
though  I  was  exceedingly  annoyed  by  an  old  lady  on  board, 
who  was  continually  at  my  elbow,  inquiring  if  I  thought 
"  all  was  safe,"  or  knew  "  how  hot  they  kept  the  furnace." 
After  enumerating  with  painful  minuteness  how  many 
cases  had  occurred  during  the  past  year  of  boilers  burst 
ing,  and  how  many  lives  were  lost  on  each  occasion,  she  al 
ways  concluded  with  an  assurance  that  were  the  engine  to 
give  way  in  the  present  instance  we  must  all  infallibly 
perish,  our  only  choice  being  whether  we  would  die  by 
hot  water  on  deck  or  cold  water  below. 

Arrived  at  St.  John's,  we  took  places  for  La  Prairie  on 
the  St.  Lawrence  in  a  vehicle  Avhich,  though  bearing  the 
honorable  designation  of  a  coach,  was  really  an  unnatural 
cross  between  a  diligence  and  a  wagon.  The  rugged 
Galli-Canadian  who  drove  it  was  also  a  singular  combina 
tion  of  the  savage  and  the  Frenchman,  the  former,  how 
ever,  so  predominating  that  nothing  was  discernible  of  the 
latter  but  the  dialect.  The  road  had  been  noted  ever  since 
its  formation  for  a  series  of  ditches  and  gullies  which  it 
required  some  courage  as  well  as  experience  to  ford,  as 
may  be  judged  by  a  legend  concerning  it  related  to  us  by 
a  fellow-passenger.  He  told  us  how  a  wedding  -  party, 


352  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

contained  in  two  calashes,  were  proceeding  by  it  to  the 
parish  church,  to  have  the  marriage  ceremony  performed, 
when  the  foremost  vehicle,  driving  into  one  of  these  gul 
lies,  was  completely  embedded,  forming,  however,  a  secure 
path  for  that  which  followed,  bearing  the  bride,  who  was 
thus  carried  quite  unconsciously  over  the  burial-place  of 
her  hapless  lover.  I  was  able,  however,  to  cap  this  ro 
mance  of  the  mud  with  a  still  better  anecdote  of  the  same 
kind  which  I  had  heard  related  of  a  Kentucky  traveller, 
whose  head  a  farmer  descried  approaching  at  a  very  swift 
pace  just  above  the  surface  of  a  swamp.  "  Hallo, 
squire!"  cried  the  rustic,  "what  hast  done  with  your 
legs  ?"  "  Got  'em  under  me,  friend,"  replied  the  traveller. 
"And  how's  the  walking,  may  I  ask?"  "I  ain't  walking; 
I'm  riding."  "What,  got  a  horse?"  "Yes,  sartinly." 
"  And  how's  travelling,  then  ?"  "  Oh,  capital,  capital,  I  as 
sure  you ;  excellent  footing  for  him  ?iow,  but  about  ten  miles 
back  we  travelled  a  good  piece  without  footing  at  all!" 

On  coming  to  one  of  these  sloughs  of  a  size  which 
seemed  quite  capable  of  accommodating  us  en  masse,  as 
our  driver  was  urging  his  cattle  towards  it,  two  or  three  of 
the  passengers  began  to  murmur,  and  the  females  abso 
lutely  to  scream,  at  what  they  considered  his  temerity. 
The  Canadian,  obliged  by  this  clamor  to  pull  up,  rose  and 
looked  into  the  coach  in  some  anger.  "Why,  Diable!" 
he  exclaimed,  "what  is  de  matter?  why  was  you  'fraid, 
eh!  of  dat  littel  pool  !  I've  been  in  dat  littel  pool  von 
hundred  times,  and  I  vas  no  scare.  You  tink  dere  is 
daansher  ?  eh  bien,  dere  vas  no  daansher  even  if  de  coash 
overturn,  or  de  vater  rone  into  de  coash.  Vas  not  dem 
littel  hos  to  pool  you  out  ?  Vhy  vas  I  have  de  hos  but 
to  pool  you  out,  when  I  drive  you  into  de  deesh?  En 
verite,  I  tell  you,  so  long  I  can  see  de  tail  of  de  littel  hos 
I  never  tink  dere  is  no  daansher  at  all !"  This  informa 
tion,  however,  so  far  from  having  the  intended  effect  of 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  353 

quieting  the  passengers'  fears,  only  augmented  them,  and 
every  one  was  loud  in  protesting  that  it  was  shameful  that 
a  man  who  was  so  careless  of  his  own  life  should  have  any 
thing  to  do  with  the  guardianship  of  other  people's.  The 
ditch,  however,  had  to  be  passed,  and  as  it  stretched  nearly 
the  whole  width  of  the  road,  no  little  confusion  ensued, 
the  water  running  into  the  coach,  the  horses  kicking  and 
plunging,  the  gentlemen  grumbling,  the  ladies  shrieking, 
and  the  Canadian  alternately  muttering  at  his  unreason 
able  passengers,  calling  on  the  saints,  and  belaboring  his 
cattle.  Many  an  exclamation  of  thankfulness  was  vented 
when  at  last  we  were  driven  into  La  Prairie,  where  we  put 
up  at  a  French  inn  with  a  landlord  who  wore  a  queue 
nearly  as  long  as  himself,  and  "  booed  and  booed  "  as  much 
as  any  Parisian.  Crossing  the  St.  Lawrence  the  next  day, 
we  saw  Montreal  in  the  distance,  its  spires  and  house-tops,  all 
sheeted  with  tin,  sparkling  in  the  sunlight  like  a  blaze  of  fire, 
and  innumerable  bateaux  gliding  in  all  directions  between 
the  verdant,  romantic  banks  of  the  river,  the  songs  of  their 
navigators  swelling  in  faint  response  to  the  lusty  staves  of 
our  own  four  Herculean  boatmen,  in  their  white  cotton 
night-caps,  open  shirt-collars,  and  canvas  trousers  tucked 
up  to  the  thigh.  It  was  no  slight  testimony  to  the  pictur 
esque  beauty  of  the  scene  that  I  admitted  it  to  be  a  full 
recompense  for  even  all  the  joltings  of  Vermont  and  the 
mud-gulfs  of  La  Prairie. 

I  found  a  company  playing  at  Montreal  on  a  sharing 
scheme,  but  as  deficient  in  talent  as  in  numbers.  John 
son,  their  acting  manager,  I  had  myself  brought  on  the 
stage  and  laid  under  some  obligations ;  Mills  *  and 

*  Mr.  MILLS  came  to  America  in  1805,  and  made  his  first  appearance  in 
Baltimore  as  "  Bob  Tyke,"  October  4.  He  first  appeared  in  Philadelphia 
December  3,  in  the  same  part.  He  was  a  good  comedian,  well  known  in 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York.  His  wife  was  a  fair  walking  lady, 
with  an  excellent  voice. 


254  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Usher,*  the  only  actors  of  merit,  were  both  from  my  own 
company  and  had  left  Boston,  the  former  a  month,  the  latter 
a  year  ago,  and  with  the  same  object,  that  of  anticipating 
me  in  securing  the  Canadian  circuit,  having  learned  from 
my  own  lips  that  I  intended  to  apply  for  it  on  the  expira 
tion  of  the  lease  of  the  Boston  Theatre.  Usher  had  so  far 
succeeded  as  to  obtain  the  Quebec  house,  in  the  name  of 
his  wife,  for  five  years,  but  Mills  had  done  nothing  hen?, 
as  the  public  were  crying  out  for  a  new  theatre,  and  he 
had  neither  the  money  to  erect  one  nor  friends  to  do  so 
for  him.  Having  many  letters  to  the  first  families  in  the 
town,  I  at  once  delivered  them,  and,  returning  home  high 
ly  gratified  with  the  reception  I  had  met  with,  I  ad 
dressed  a  note  to  the  theatre,  expressing  my  wish  to  per 
form  for  a  few  nights,  but  received  no  answer.  In  conse 
quence  of  this  neglect,  at  which,  however,  I  was  not  sur 
prised  after  the  attempt  that  had  been  made  to  forestall 
me,  I  gave  out  my  bills  for  an  evening's  entertainment, 
and,  the  news  of  my  arrival  soon  spreading,  was  waited  on 
a  few  hours  later  by  several  gentlemen  of  the  town  to 
know  why  I  did  not  perform.  I  referred  them  to  the 
management,  to  whom,  therefore,  a  note  was  immediately 
forwarded,  acquainting  them  that  there  would  be  no  at 
tendance  at  the  theatre  unless  I  was  engaged.  A  low 
fellow,  a  scene  painter,  was  accordingly  sent  to  me  to 
treat  for  terms,  who  actually  offered  me  the  whole  con 
cern  for  £300;  but,  not  inclined  to  talk  of  this,  I  told  him 
I  would  engage  with  them  on  my  usual  terms,  viz.,  to  per 
form  six  nights  for  a  clear  benefit,  which  was  agreed  to. 
As,  from  their  slight  pretensions  to  support,  the  company 

*  LUKE  USHER  first  appeared  upon  the  stage  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  in 
the  year  1800.  In  1814  he  made  his  first  appearance  in  New  York,  play 
ing  "Richard  III."  at  the  Anthony  Street  Theatre.  He  was  for  many  years 
a  successful  and  popular  manager  in  the  West,  opening,  in  1808,  at  Lexing 
ton,  the  first  theatre  in  the  state  of  Kentucky. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  355 

had  hitherto  met  with  but  little  success,  they  resolved  to 
take  benefits  during  my  six  nights,  as  their  only  remain 
ing  chance  of  indemnification.  The  houses  proved  all 
good,  and  my  own  an  overflow,  an  assurance  to  me  what 
Montreal  could  do  for  a  manager  when  any  proper  in 
ducement  was  offered  to  it. 

During  my  stay  Mr.  Sewell,  the  counsellor,  called  for 
me  one  morning  to  take  me  in  his  carriage  to  an  Indian 
settlement,  a  few  miles  from  Montreal,  called  Cognawagha, 
of  which  place  he  was  lord  of  the  manor.  As  it  offered 
one  of  the  most  curious  scenes  I  had  witnessed  during  my 
wanderings  in  America,  perhaps  I  may  be  allowed  to  devote 
a  few  words  to  it.  The  settlement  is  inhabited  by  a  large 
body  of  Christian  Indians  under  the  control,  both  civilly 
and  spiritually,  of  a  Roman  Catholic  priest.  They  have  a 
church,  handsomely  furnished  and  endowed  by  her  late 
majesty  Queen  Charlotte ;  a  justice  hall  in  the  parsonage 
house,  a  public  seminary,  and  one  tavern.  The  habita 
tions  of  the  people,  each  with  its  cultivated  plot  of 
ground  behind,  have  a  uniform  appearance  of  great  com 
fort,  though  also  of  great  simplicity.  They  themselves 
resembled  the  Canadians  in  their  dress,  and,  like  many  of 
them,  spoke  a  mixture  of  broken  French  and  English.  It 
was  no  less  pleasing  than  curious  thus  to  see  the  savage, 
under  the  influence  of  order  and  instruction,  rising  up  tow 
ards  the  level  of  the  white,  and  improving  equally  in  ex 
ternals  and  in  intellect.  One  circumstance  particularly 
struck  me.  In  the  course  of  our  walk  round  the  town  our 
guide  pointed  out  to  us  a  field  in  which  all  the  horses  be 
longing  to  the  settlement  were  running  loose,  and  told  us 
it  was  the  practice  whenever  a  man  wanted  one  for  him 
to  take  the  first  that  came  to  hand,  whether  it  was  his  own 
or  not,  to  make  use  of  it,  and  then  return  it  at  his  con 
venience  to  this  general  repository.  This  may  be  a  very 
good  practice,  thought  I,  in  Cognawagha,  but  I  doubt 


356  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

how  it  would  be  found  to  work  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world. 

Mr.  Mills  had  declined  my  services  on  the  night  of  his 
benefit,  but,  being  much  in  debt,  had  not  found  its  profits 
to  relieve  him,  and  therefore  made  interest  with  some 
friends  in  the  town  to  get  a  second.  They  told  him  it 
would  be  of  little  use  unless  I  stayed  to  play  for  him,  which 
was  not  more  a  compliment  to  my  talents  than  a  proof  of 
the  wretched  condition  of  the  company.  Much  against 
his  inclination,  therefore,  he  was  obliged  to  come  to  me 
with  a  stooping  neck  to  ask  the  favor.  Though  I  felt  that 
I  might  justly  have  retaliated,  I  chose  rather  to  appeal  to 
the  man's  better  feelings,  so  agreed  to  play  for  him,  with 
the  result  that  he  cleared  more  money  than  had  been  in 
the  house  altogether  on  the  previous  evening. 

We  set  sail  for  Quebec  in  a  Newcastle  brig  on  her  way 
back  to  England,  and  with  a  favorable  breeze  made  sixty 
miles  by  midnight,  when  unluckily  the  vessel  grounded, 
and,  notwithstanding  every  exertion,  it  was  found  impos 
sible  to  get  her  off  without  relieving  her  of  some  portion 
of  the  cargo.  As  this  would  occasion  both  delay  and  in 
convenience  I  proposed  going  on  shore  and  proceeding  to 
Quebec  as  best  I  could,  leaving  our  luggage  to  be  brought 
by  the  vessel.  Accordingly  my  wife  and  I,  with  our  infant, 
our  servant,  and  a  solitary  portmanteau,  were  landed  in  the 
boat  (the  captain  accompanying  us),  at  a  little  farm-house 
on  the  river  bank.  Here  we  found  but  one  inhabitant  at 
home,  a  snuffy,  superannuated  Frenchwoman,  who  could 
do  nothing  but  sing  out  some  shrill  sentences  and  then 
shrug  up  her  shoulders.  As  we  could  not  make  her  un 
derstand  a  syllable  of  English,  I  was  in  some  perplexity 
how  we  should  procure  any  conveyance,  when  the  cap 
tain  hit  on  an  ingenious  plan  to  make  known  to  her  our 
wishes.  Leading  her  to  a  kind  of  wheelbarrow  standing 
near,  he  sat  her  down  on  it,  then,  catching  up  the  handles 


KETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  357 

suddenly, ran  her  about  the  house  at  full  speed;  then,  point 
ing  to  my  family,  cried  "  Cum  sa  ?"  Extraordinary  as  this 
method  of  explanation  may  seem,  the  old  lady  appeared 
to  comprehend  it,  for,  giving  a  slight  chuckle,  she  nodded 
her  head  and  beckoned  me  to  follow  her  up  to  the  roof  of 
the  cottage.  Here,  pointing  to  some  smoke  wreathing 
upward  from  a  chimney  at  some  distance,  just  perceptible 
amid  a  clump  of  trees,  she  exclaimed,  "  VoildJ"  Much  in 
doubt  whether  I  understood  the  old  woman  or  she  under 
stood  me,  I  descended  to  the  parlor,  and  was  telling  what 
had  passed,  when  a  laboring  man  coming  in,  she  bade  him 
put  my  portmanteau  on  his  shoulder  and  gave  him  some 
directions,  to  which  he  replied  by  sundry  words  and  ges 
ticulations  to  us  equally  unintelligible.  The  captain,  how 
ever,  was  satisfied  that  they  knew  very  well  what  wo 
wanted,  so,  shaking  my  hand,  he  jumped  into  his  boat  and 
pushed  off.  The  rustic,  shouldering  our  portmanteau, 
walked  away,  and  we  accordingly  followed  him  towards 
the  house  of  which  I  had  caught  a  glimpse,  and  which 
was  a  mile  and  a  half  distant.  Our  guide  took  his  way 
through  wood  and  meadow  without  saying  a  word,  merely 
resting  for  a  minute  or  turning  round  when  he  had  a  stile 
or  a  brook  to  cross,  and  I  certainly  indulged  some  strange 
conjectures  as  to  how  our  adventure  might  end,  when, 
much  to  our  satisfaction,  we  emerged  into  a  road  and  ter 
minated  our  walk  at  a  kind  of  post-house.  Here  a  little 
Frenchman,  a  perfect  image  of  Bagatelle  in  the  farce, 
promised  us  a  conveyance  that  afternoon;  so,  dismissing 
our  guide  with  a  piece  of  silver,  we  begged  the  post-master 
to  ask  him  to  convey,  in  as  polite  language  as  he  was 
master  of,  our  thanks  to  the  old  cottager. 

From  a  pane  of  glass  in  this  post-master's  parlor  I  tran 
scribed  some  lines  which  seemed  to  me  to  convey  a  happy 
idea: 


358  RETROSPECTIONS   OF  AMERICA. 

"  Life's  like  a  journey,  and  it  seems  to  me 
Fortune's  our  vehicle,  our  luggage  Care, 
Hope  our  conductor — but  Necessity 
That  which  draws  most  men  everywhere." 

The  Frenchman  kept  his  word,  and  by  dusk  we  reached 
Three  Rivers,  where,  calling  on  the  commandant,  Gen 
eral  Sheaf,  to  whom  I  had  been  introduced  at  Boston, 
I  found  he  was  intending  next  day  to  send  off  a  bateau  to 
Quebec,  on  which  he  very  obligingly  offered  us  a  passage. 
From  the  scarcity  of  inns  and  all  but  impracticability  of 
the  roads,  this  was  far  preferable  to  making  the  journey 
by  land,  and  I  gratefully  accepted  the  offer.  In  the  even 
ing  I  joined  a  musical  party  at  the  general's;  he  and  his 
lady  played  delightfully  on  the  flute  and  piano,  some  of 
ficers  sang  very  well,  and  some  members  of  the  band  were 
excellent  musicians,  so  that  the  time  passed  very  agree 
ably.  If  music  is  a  less  rational  entertainment  than  some 
others,  it  has  certainly  the  advantage  of  being  held  in  al 
most  universal  estimation;  for,  wander  wherever  I  would, 
in  England,  Ireland,  or  America,  I  have  found  everywhere 
a  taste  for  music,  even  in  the  most  humble  village,  while 
great  differences  of  opinion  existed  upon  all  other  kinds 
of  amusement. 

Among  the  residents  in  this  little  town,  who  were  prin 
cipally  French,  I  encountered  a  Mr.  Burroughs,  who  had 
once  known  something  of  me  in  the  States — a  very  in 
genious  man,  who  had  forged  to  a  greater  or  less  amount 
on  every  bank  in  the  Union,  and,  being  imprisoned  in  con 
sequence  in  several  state  prisons,  had  invariably  effected 
his  escape.  These  circumstances  conjointly  had  procured 
him  a  reputation  in  the  general  opinion  of  the  Americans 
little  inferior  to  that  of  a  certain  sable  practitioner  who 
is  supposed  to  confine  his  personal  operations  to  regions 
below.  Indeed,  some  people  went  so  far  as  to  believe  that 
this  infernal  personage  had  actually  established  an  agency 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  359 

on  earth,  and  that  Mr.  Burroughs  acted  for  him  upon  a 
liberal  commission.  But  whatever  profits  might  thus  have 
accrued  to  him,  they  had  evidently  been  evanescent,  for  he 
was  now  living  here  in  poor  circumstances  and  maintaining 
himself  by  Jceeping  a  school!  How  far  he  was  qualified 
for  such  an  employment  might  be  open  to  question,  for 
though  his  proficiency  in  penmanship  and  figures  was 
undoubted,  he  would  have  been  quite  likely,  from  sheer 
force  of  habit,  to  teach  his  pupils  to  sign  any  other  name 
rather  than  their  own.  But  perhaps  this  was  only  another 
branch  of  the  aforesaid  agency. 

The  next  morning,  accompanied  by  a  Dr.  Davidson,  of 
Three  Rivers,  my  family  and  I  embarked  in  the  bateau, 
which  was  manned  by  twenty  soldiers  under  the  command 
of  an  officer.  Having  put  on  board  the  best  store  of  liquor 
and  cold  provisions  the  little  town  could  supply,  we  ran 
in  to  shore  about  midday  to  discuss  them  under  some 
shady  elms,  and  the  day's  sail  proved  altogether  very 
pleasant,  except  when  occasionally  we  came  in  contact 
writh  the  rapids,  when  the  soldiers  did  not  prove  them 
selves  quite  so  expert  as  the  Canadian  boatmen.  In  the 
evening  we  landed  again  at  a  spot  recommended  by  Dr. 
Davidson,  who  had  some  knowledge  of  the  owner  of  a 
large  solitary  house  which  stood  in  view  a  little  way  from 
the  bank,  and  where  he  expected  we  could  obtain  accom 
modation  for  the  night.  He  accordingly  went  there  at 
once  and  soon  returned  with  the  information  that  his 
friend,  a  French  gentleman,  was  from  home,  but  that  ma- 
dame,  his  wife,  had  expressed  great  willingness  to  receive 
us.  This  news  was  warmly  welcomed  by  us  all,  but  par 
ticularly  by  the  soldiers,  who,  it  struck  me,  took  the  in 
vitation  in  a  more  liberal  sense  than  was  intended.  Leav 
ing  one  man  only  in  charge  of  the  bateau,  who  was  to  be 
relieved  in  a  couple  of  hours,  we  all  proceeded  over  a  field 
to  the  house  in  question — rather  a  formidable  body  to  take 


360  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

up  a  night's  lodging  anywhere.  The  mansion,  as  we  ap 
proached  it,  appeared  to  be  very  large,  ancient,  and  dilap 
idated,  displaying  windows  without  panes,  shutters  hang 
ing  on  one  hinge,  and  gates  all  lopsided,  while  the  garden 
around  bore  an  equal  appearance  of  decay  and  neglect,  its 
fences  broken  down,  and  a  profuse  variety  of  ill-weeds  keep 
ing  the  proverb  in  countenance  by  "  shooting  apace  "  in 
it.  Our  summons  at  the  door  wras  answered  by  madame 
herself,  a  tall,  gaunt,  strait-laced  figure  with  a  face  so 
wrinkled  and  frightful  as  to  be  almost  as  petrifying  to  the 
beholder  as  the  fabled  Medusa's.  She  was  dressed  in  the 
French  fashion  of  the  old  regime — a  ceiling-sweeping  cap, 
square-toed  shoes,  pink-striped  gown,  and  a  feminine  corse 
let,  designated  "  stays,"  which  I  think  our  officer  must 
have  envied,  for  to  all  appearance  they  would  have  been 
impenetrable  to  any  bayonet  thrust.  Moreover,  her  petti 
coats  were  of  sufficient  brevity  to  display  a  pair  of  ankles 
that  must  have  frightened  gallantry  out  of  even  a  Pere 
grine  Pickle,  and  which  were  supported  by  appropriately 
colossal  appendages.  She  had  merely  one  female  domestic 
with  her  in  the  house,  a  fat,  squab,  ugly  little  thing,  but  she 
was  herself  altogether  so  formidable  a  being  that  she  need 
have  had  no  delicate  scruples  as  to  admitting  even  a  whole 
regiment  of  men  beneath  her  roof.  Catching  a  glimpse 
of  her  countenance  as  I  entered,  I  felt  sure,  from  its  ex 
pression  of  mingled  surprise  and  displeasure,  that  my  ap 
prehension  had  been  correct,  and  that  the  invitation  was 
by  no  means  intended  to  embrace  so  numerous  a  company. 
The  old  lady  somehow  brought  to  mind  the  Thane  of  Fife, 
as  she  stood  muttering,  and  gazing  on  forms  more  sub 
stantial  than  he  saw,  and  yet  more  unwelcome  —  "a 
fourth — a  fifth — a  sixth  !" — as  we  streamed,  one  after  an 
other,  into  the  hall,  wrhile  she  held  the  lock  of  the  door  in 
an  irresolute  grasp,  as  though  half  inclined  to  close  it 
violently  and  sweep  some  half  dozen  of  the  soldiers  into 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  361 

the  yard.  They  had  apparently  an  instinctive  apprehen 
sion  of  her  purpose,  and  trod  after  each  other  in  quick 
time  and  close  order,  till  the  whole  nineteen  were  in,  and 
the  hall  pretty  well  filled.  Then,  shutting  the  door  with 
a  slam,  the  storm  burst,  and  she  gave  forth  a  long  roll  of 
vituperative  thunder,  which  I  believe  none  of  us  under 
stood;  or,  if  any  did,  at  least  they  took  no  notice  of  it.  I 
must,  however,  speak  well  of  her  treatment,  though  it  was 
due  to  no  generous  motive.  The  servant  showed  my  wife 
up  into  a  comfortable  bedroom,  where  refreshment  and  a 
cheerful  fire  had  been  provided.  The  officer,  Dr.  David 
son,  and  myself  were  ushered  by  madame  into  a  spacious 
oaken  parlor,  and  likewise  taken  care  of,  while  the  soldiers, 
finding  their  way  in  a  body  down  into  the  kitchen,  inves 
tigated  the  cupboards,  threw  logs  of  pine  wood  upon  the 
iron  dogs,  and  made  themselves  at  home  without  any  so 
licitation.  I  learned  from  the  doctor  that  this  family  were 
supposed  to  be  rich  though  penurious  people,  who  had  for 
merly  been  in  business,  but  now  lived  in  miserly  seclusion, 
holding  little  or  no  communication  with  the  world.  Every 
thing  about  the  house,  and  the  old  lady  herself,  bore  marks 
of  attestation  that  this  was  the  case,  and  as  I  have  always 
looked  on  avarice  and  inhospitality  as  two  most  detestable 
vices,  I  did  not  so  much  regret  the  punishment  of  our 
visit,  nor  that  our  hostess  had  been  betrayed  into  an  act 
of  generosity  which  she  had  not  contemplated.  As  it  was 
our  intention  to  resume  our  voyage  at  four  in  the  morn 
ing,  Mrs.  Bernard  retired  to  rest  early,  but  we  three  gen 
tlemen,  inspirited  by  our  brandy-and-water,  a  cheerful 
fire,  and  that  most  convivial  of  all  times — midnight,  kept 
up  and  awake,  indulging  in  songs  and  stories  and  humor 
ous  recollections  ;  wThile  the  soldiers,  imitating  our  ex 
ample,  began  to  carouse  more  deeply  below,  and  raise  up 
a  bacchanal  strain  that  made  the  wide,  empty  rooms  and 
hollow  wainscotings  of  the  house  ring  again.  The  old 

1C 


362  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

lady's  patience  here  deserted  her,  and,  finding  that  neither 
did  we  mean  to  go  to  bed,  nor  the  soldiers  to  return  to 
the  bateau,  she  flew  into  a  terrific  passion.  For  a  solitary 
and  decayed  house  like  this,  in  which  the  stillness  of  des 
olation  seemed  to  have  reigned  undisturbed  for  years,  to 
be  converted  of  a  sudden  into  a  scene  of  mirth  and  revelry 
was  singular  enough  ;  still  more  singular  to  us  seemed  the 
hollow  echoings  of  our  laughter  through  the  gloom;  but 
more  singular  than  all,  though  at  the  same  time  sufficient 
ly  laughable,  was  the  conduct  of  our  hostess,  who  kept 
running  up  and  down  stairs,  from  parlor  to  kitchen,  like 
some  discontented  spirit  haunting  the  mansion  and  scared 
from  its  repose  by  our  merriment.  But  though,  for  a 
couple  of  hours  at  least,  she  kept  alternately  commanding 
those  below,  and  haughtily  requesting  those  above  to 
comply  with  her  wishes,  she  could  neither  frighten  the 
soldiery  from  their  pleasures  nor  entice  us  from  ours  un 
til,  punctually  at  four  o'clock,  our  sentinel  from  the  bateau 
came  to  summon  us  on  board.  When  the  men  were  called 
up  we  found  not  above  five  out  of  twenty  able  to  main 
tain  a  military  uprightness  on  their  legs,  which  five  were 
consequently  obliged  to  carry  all  the  rest  to  the  boat. 
Calling  up  Mrs.  Bernard  and  our  servant,  I  then  tendered 
my  thanks  to  madame  for  our  entertainment,  when  I  was 
given  to  understand  that  the  best  proof  we  could  afford 
of  our  sense  of  gratitude  was  to  make  our  exit  as  expe- 
ditiously  as  possible.  On  regaining  the  bateau  the  morn 
ing  air  had  some  sobering  effect  upon  the  soldiers,  but  we 
did  not  get  into  Quebec  quite  so  early  as  we  had  expected, 
though  none  of  us  were  disposed  to  quarrel  with  the  men 
as  to  the  cause  of  the  delay. 

Colonel  Pye,  the  head  of  the  Amateur  Association  in 
Quebec,  on  hearing  of  my  arrival,  politely  called  on  me  to 
take  me  to  his  house ;  another  amateur  did  me  the  favor 
of  presenting  my  bill  for  lectures  to  the  governor,  Sir  James 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  363 

Craig;  and  I  also  received  many  kindnesses  from  Judge 
Sewell,  whom  I  had  slightly  known  nearly  twenty-eight 
years  before  at  Bristol,  wnere  he  was  studying  the  law,  and 
on  one  occasion,  I  remember,  played  "  The  Gamester  "  for 
a  charity  night.  My  entertainment  was  greatly  attended, 
and  the  company,  perceiving  this,  thought  it  advisable  to 
offer  terms,  when  I  agreed  to  perform  six  nights  for  a  clear 
benefit,  my  characters  to  be  Vapid,  Sheva,  Gregory  Gub- 
bins,  Sir  Robert  Bramble,  Ollapod,  and  Dash  wood;  with 
Lord  Ogleby  and  "  The  Liar  "  for  my  own  night.  These 
all  proving  attractive,  both  public  and  company  were  well 
satisfied.  In  a  paltry  little  room  of  a  very  paltry  public- 
house,  that  neither  in  shape  nor  capacity  merited  the  name 
of  theatre,  my  benefit  receipted  £95,  besides  ten  guineas 
which  Governor  Craig  sent  me  for  his  ticket.  My  first 
visit  to  Canada  being  thus  encouraging,  I  now  explained 
to  some  friends  my  motives  in  coming.  It  being  evident 
that  if  a  scheme  were  to  be  carried  out  with  any  advan 
tage  a  new  theatre  was  indispensable,  Colonel  Pye  of 
fered  me  a  piece  of  ground  behind  his  own  house  to  build 
on,  provided  I  would  admit  Mrs.  Usher,  the  present  man 
ageress,  to  partnership;  but  as  this  lady  had  no  other  claim 
to  such  a  privilege  than  her  simple  merits  as  an  actress,  I 
declined  the  proposal.  As  Judge  Sewell  recommended 
my  waiting  on  Governor  Craig  to  solicit  the  honor  of  his 
patronage  and  choice  of  situation,  I  did  so,  when  he  very 
politely  assured  me  he  would  not  only  give  his  name,  but 
liberally  subscribe  to  the  erection.  Mrs.  Usher,  however, 
took  Mills  in  as  a  partner  for  the  remainder  of  her  lease, 
and  it  was  the  opinion  of  my  friends  that  for  the  present 
a  new  theatre  would  sink  under  the  influence  of  the  ama 
teurs,  who  supported  Mrs.  Usher  in  toto.  As  these  gentle 
men  evidently  performed  more  for  their  own  amusement 
than  the  public's,  and  as  under  the  present  system  they 
played  most  of  the  characters  themselves,  I  saw  how  I 


364  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

should  be  opposed  in  bringing  a  company  which  would 
only  diminish  their  pleasure.  At  Montreal  the  case  was 
different ;  there  were  no  amateurs,  and  the  public  were 
decidedly  fond  of  theatricals,  while,  furthermore,  the  im 
portant  families  in  that  city  had  even  been  the  first  to 
speak  with  me  upon  the  subject  of  a  new  theatre,  towards 
which  they  proposed  a  handsome  subscription.  After  this 
view  of  affairs  I  quitted  Canada,  having  received  a  letter 
from  Powell  announcing  Dickinson's  return  from  England 
with  some  fresh  engagements,  and  that  the  season  wrould 
commence  directly.  I  therefore  returned  to  Boston  with 
as  little  delay  as  possible. 

The  season  of  1810-11,  the  fifth  and  last  of  my  Boston 
management,  opened  with  some  prospect  of  success,  but 
I  terminated,  as  before,  disappointingly,  while  Charleston, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore  were  about  as  prosperous  as 
ourselves,  though  New  York  was  doing  much  better,  owing 
to  Cooke's*  arrival  with  Cooper  from  England.  Among 
our  new  importations  Dickinson  had  brought  us  a  Miss 
Poole,  an  actress  of  very  versatile  talent;  Mr.  Drake,  f 
Mrs.  Doidge,  and  others  of  more  or  less  ability,  but  not 
calling  for  particular  notice.  Dwyer,J  the  comedian,  also 

*  GEORGE  FREDERICK  COOKE  was  the  first  great  actor  who  came  to  Amer 
ica,  the  legitimate  successor  of  Garrick,  the  rival  of  Kemble,  and  the  pre 
cursor  of  Kean.  A  man  of  great  possibilities  but  very  uneven  perform 
ance.  After  a  brilliant  and  erratic  career  in  England,  he  made  his  first 
appearance  in  the  United  States  November  21, 1810.  lie  died  in  New  York, 
September  20,  181 2,  from  the  effects  of  intemperance,  and  at  last  found  rest 
in  the  yard  of  St.  Paul's  Church  there.  He  was  born  in  Westminster  in  1756. 

f  SAMUEL  DRAKE  was  born  in  London  in  1772.  He  appeared  with  his 
wife  at  the  Federal  Street  Theatre,  Boston,  in  the  season  of  1810-11.  He 
subsequently  became  a  manager  in  the  West ;  one  of  the  earliest  actors  to 
penetrate  that  then  little  known  region.  He  was  the  progenitor  of  a 
number  of  actors  and  actresses,  the  most  famous  perhaps  being  his  grand 
daughter,  Julia  Dean. 

t  Mr.  DTVYEK  was  an  Irishman,  who  made  his  first  appearance  in  Dublin 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  365 

paid  us  a  visit  for  a  few  nights,  and  was  tolerably  success 
ful.  He  had  lately  come  out  to  America,  rather  too  late 
in  the  day  to  answer  his  purpose,  having,  he  told  me,  been 
driven  by  the  embarrassment  of  his  private  affairs  from  his 
metropolitan  engagements.  In  my  opinion  this  was  a 
great  pity,  as  he  was  the  only  "  genteel  comedian,"  in  my 
knowledge,  who  could  have  supplied  the  place  of  Lewis  at 
all  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  London  public. 

We  had  some  novelties  this  season  of  native  produc 
tion,  Mr.  White,  whom  I  mentioned  before,  giving  us  a 
comedy  entitled  "  The  Poor  Lodger,"  taken  from  Miss 
Burney's  novel  "Evelina,"  to  which  Paine  wrote  an  epi 
logue,  characterized  by  a  wit  and  elegance  rarely  to  be 
met  with  in  these  dramatic  appendages.  The  comedy  it 
self  was  written  with  some  spirit  and  humor,  but  failed  in 
its  general  effect.  Mrs.  Rowson,*  who  had  formerly  been, 
an  actress,  but  was  now  superintending  a  seminary,  favored 
us  with  another—^"  Hearts  of  Oak  " — a  piece  inferior  to  the 
other,  but  which  nevertheless  displayed  merits  worthy  of 
more  praise  than  it  received.  The  fame  of  the  authoress 
rests  chiefly  on  her  novel  "  Charlotte  Temple,"  which  has 
justly  met  with  very  general  admiration. 

We  had  fresh  accessions  to  the  company  in  the  persons 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duff.f  The  lady,  who  was  the  sister  of 

at  the  age  of  seventeen.  In  1802,  at  Drury  Lane,  he  made  a  hit  as  Bel- 
cour  in  the  "West  Indian."  He  came  to  America  in  1810,  and  made  his 
debut  at  the  Park  Theatre,  New  York,  in  the  same  part.  lie  was  very 
handsome,  and  in  light,  dashing  comedy  was  considered  almost  without  a 
rival  in  his  day.  He  was  rash  and  improvident,  and  died  neglected  and 
forgotten  about  1840. 

*  WM.  ROWSON  was  leader  of  a  regimental  band  in  England.  He  and 
his  wife  came  to  America  with  Wignell,  in  1793.  He  was  eclipsed  by  Mrs. 
Rowson,  the  author  of  "  Charlotte  Temple,  a  Tale  of  Truth,"  of  a  comedy 
called  "  Americans  in  England,"  and  other  works,  and  an  actress  of  aver 
age  ability. 

f  Mr.  and  Mrs.  DUFF.    John  R.  Duff  and  his  wife  made  their  American 


366  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

Mrs.  Thomas  Moore,  was  possessed  of  great  personal  at 
tractions,  and  in  Romeo  and  Juliet — which  she  and  her 
husband  played  together — I  thought  them  the  handsomest 
couple  I  had  ever  seen  on  the  stage.  They  were  young 
at  this  time,  and  improved  very  much  in  their  acting  after 
wards.  A  Mr.  Entwistle,*  a  low  comedian,  likewise  joined 
us,  and  displayed  much  originality  in  eccentric  charac 
ters.  But  we  had  also  some  secessions  from  the  company, 
a  party  of  whom,  of  no  great  ability,  under  the  manage 
ment  of  Mrs.  Shaw  and  another,  engaged  the  cabin  of  a 
brig  and  went  off  to  Demerara.  At  parting  the  manager 
ess  said  to  me,  in  a  very  decided  tone,  "  I  am  resolved, 
Mr.  Bernard,  upon  getting  either  a  coach  or  a  coffin" 
But  mortals  may  not  choose  their  fate.  After  playing 
at  one  island  they  proceeded  to  St.  Thomas's.  On  the 
passage  she  died  and  was  lowered  overboard.  Thus  she 
obtained  neither. 

Most  fortunately  we  succeeded  in  engaging  Cooke  for 
nine  nights,  and  this  great  tragedian  made  his  debilt  in 
Boston  on  the  3d  of  January,  1811,  to  an  overflowing 
house,  in  the  character  of  Richard  the  Third.  Upon  the 
merits  of  one  "  whose  like  we  shall  not  look  upon  again," 
I  may  be  permitted  to  make  a  few  observations,  and  espe 
cially  to  put  him  in  comparison  with  his  great  predecessor, 

debut  in  Boston  in  the  winter  of  1810.  Mr.  Duff  was  a  native  of  Ireland 
(1787),  and  an  excellent  actor  in  the  leading  tragedy  roles.  He  died  in 
1831.  Mrs.  Duff  (Mary  Dyke)  was  the  chief  actress  in  America  for  many 
years.  The  founder  of  The  New  York  Tribune,  late  in  life,  pronounced 
her  the  finest  actress  he  had  ever  seen.  She  played  throughout  the  United 
States  with  great  success,  and  died,  after  years  of  retirement,  in  1857,  in 
the  sixty-third  year  of  her  age.  Her  "  Life,"  by  Mr.  Joseph  N.  Ireland, 
appeared  in  The  American  Actor  Series,  published  in  1882. 

*  Mr.  ENTWISTLE  was  a  great  favorite  in  Boston  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  appeared  in  New  York  in  1814,  went  afterwards  to  Philadelphia,  where, 
he  became  one  of  the  husbands  of  the  celebrated  Mrs.  Mason  (Mrs.  Crooke). 
His  habits  were  bad,  and  he  died  in  New  Orleans  by  his  own  hand. 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  367 

Macklin.  Cooke's  best  performance,  in  my  opinion^  was 
his  Sir  Pertinax  Mac  Sycophant,  which  in  all  respects  I 
consider  was  one  of  the  greatest  masterpieces  the  British 
stage  has  produced.  Next  came  his  Richard,  then  lago 
and  Stukeley,  then  Shylock  and  Sir  Giles  Overreach;  his 
Zanga  and  Pierre  were  but  inferior  performances.  In 
estimating  his  powers  I  would  premise  that  in  the  drama 
tis  personce,  of  tragedy  two  contrasting  characters  gener 
ally  occupy  the  foreground — the  hero  and  the  villain — 
characters  requiring  distinct  qualifications  in  the  perform 
er,  both  as  regards  person  and  genius.  We  may  take,  as 
instances  of  the  hero,  Othello.  Alexander,  and  Brutus;  of 
the  villain,  Richard,  Shylock,  and  lago.  For  the  per 
formance  of  the  first  it  is  immediately  obvious  that  a 
tragedian  should  have  such  personal  requisites  as  a  com 
manding  figure,  a  fine-toned  voice,  and  a  dignified  action, 
not  less  from  the  poetical  sublimity  of  the  characters  than 
their  general  declamatory  cast,  so  often  calling  all  the 
qualities  of  the  orator  into  play.  For  the  second,  I  do 
not  know  that  in  person  anything  can  be  insisted  upon 
beyond  a  strongly  marked  and  flexible  set  of  features ; 
for  the  peculiarity  of  this  character  lies  greatly  in  solilo- 
qu"y,  through  the  medium  of  which  the  villain  conveys  to 
the  audience,  in  a  series  of  opinions,  reasonings,  and  reso 
lutions,  his  own  character  and  his  connection  with  the 
fable.  To  perform  either  well,  it  is  necessary  for  the 
tragedian  to  have  a  peculiar  genius,  such  as  has  been 
instanced,  reckoning  from  the  Revolution  downwards,  in 
Betterton,  Booth,  Barry,  and  John  Kemble  as  heroes,  and 
in  Macklin,  Mossop,  and  George  Frederick  Cooke  as  vil 
lains.  These  were  all  tragedians  possessing  peculiar  and 
opposite  kinds  of  histrionic  genius.  I  omit  Quin,  who  is 
said  to  have  played  both  casts  of  character,  and  the 
three  English  actors,  Garrick,  Henderson,  and  Hodgkinson, 
whom,  from  personal  observation,  I  know  to  have  done 


368  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

so.  Their  genius,  being  twofold,  gives  them  an  honor 
able  exclusion  from  a  list  of  specialties.  The  villains  of 
the  drama  may  again  be  divided  into  two  classes:  the  ma 
jestic  or  heroic,  such  as  the  tyrants  Barbarossa,  Dionysius, 
Zanga  or  Pierre,  and  the  specious  and  designing,  such  as 
Richard,  lago,  and  Stukeley.  In  the  majestic  villain  our 
stage  has  produced  a  solitary  example  of  a  surpassing 
tragedian,  viz.,  Mossop,  whose  pre-eminence  I  must  be 
lieve,  if  I  can  at  all  rely  on  those  who  saw  and  told  me  of 
him,  or  on  the  envy  of  him  felt  by  Garrick,  which,  of  the 
two,  I  take  to  be  the  stronger  evidence.  From  a  similar 
ity  of  personal  requisites  rather  than  from  an  adaptation 
to  their  capacity,  actors  of  heroic  tragedy  have  often  as 
sumed  these  characters.  In  the  insinuating  villain  we 
have  had  but  two  distinguished  tragedians,  Macklin  and 
Cooke,  whom  I  will  now  compare.  Of  the  two  Cooke  had 
the  larger  range  of  character,  though  not  the  superior 
tragedian  ;  for  though  Macklin  was  great,  and  in  some 
parts  of  his  acting  even  sublimely  powerful  (as,  for  exam 
ple,  in  Shylock  and  Bajazet)  his  peculiar  characteristic — 
which  was  power  or  force,  or  rather  I  might  almost  say 
ferocity — unfitted  him  for  the  representation  of  villains  in 
general,  where  the  opposite  quality  of  a  specious  softness 
is  wanted.  Neither  could  Macklin  assume  the  majestic 
villain,  for  he  had  neither  elevation  nor  dignity,  and  I 
know  not,  therefore,  but  that  he  should  be  classed  alone 
for  a  description  of  acting  as  original  as  it  was  excellent, 
and  thus  occupy  with  Mossop  and  Cooke  a  distinct  stand 
in  the  estimation  of  posterity  according  to  this  classifica 
tion — which  will  sufficiently  mark  the  difference  in  their 
style — Mossop  for  his  majesty,  Macklin  for  his  force  and 
passion,  Cooke  for  his  speciousness. 

In  my  boyhood,  nearly  forty  years  previous  to  this 
period,  I  had  seen  Cooke  act  at  Chichester  when  his  pow 
ers  were,. perhaps,  as  far  from  maturity  as  was  my  judg- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  369 

merit.  When  we  were  now  thrown  together  at  Boston, 
it  might  have  been  supposed  that  in  proportion  as  I  had 
become  more  capable  of  judging  he  had  become  less  capa 
ble  of  performing,  since  Cooke,  at  this  time,  must  have 
been  sixty-five  years  of  age,  a  period  of  life  when,  in  the 
common  course  of  things,  the  mental  as  well  as  physical 
powers  of  a  man  are  supposed  to  have  become  somewhat  en 
feebled.  When,  besides  this,  we  consider  the  effect  which 
a  long  addiction  to  the  bottle  must  have  had  upon  him  in 
every  respect,  no  one  can  believe  that  his  acting  in  Amer 
ica  could  possibly  have  equalled  what  it  had  been  in  Eng 
land.  On  the  other  hand  I  had  by  this  time  seen  Garrick, 
Henderson,  Macklin,  Reddish,  Smith,  Bensley,  Palmer, 
and  Kemble  in  one  or  the  other  of  Cooke's  characters,  and 
consequently  not  only  had  a  high  standard  whereby  to 
test  him,  but  was  in  some  degree  prejudiced  against  the 
possibility  of  his  competing  successfully  with  such  rivals. 
After  this,  when  I  say  that  however,  in  particular  scenes 
and  passages,  some  of  the  above  performers  had  exceeded 
him,  or  however  his  own  ability  was  inadequate  to  fill  up 
with  consistent  force  throughout  the  brilliant  design  he 
had  formed,  yet  that  as  regards  the  general  conception 
of  his  characters  he  certainly  surpassed  anything  I  had 
ever  witnessed,  it  really  amounts  to  ranking  him,  in  his 
own  peculiar  specialty,  above  the  level  of  even  the  great 
est  I  have  named.  And  when,  perceiving  what  his  con 
ception  was,  I  considered  what  his  ability  might  have 
been,  when  unimpaired  by  age  or  bad  habits,  I  could  not 
but  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  must  have  been  one 
of  the  most  original  and  highly  endowed  tragedians  the 
world  has  ever  produced. 

The  great  characteristic  of  "  The  Man  of  the  World  " 
being  that  quality  in  the  representation  of  which  Cooke 
particularly  excelled,  viz.,  speciousness,  affords  the  reason 
why  he  so  much  surpassed  Macklin  in  its  performance, 

16* 


370  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

the  latter  confusing  the  light  and  shade  of  the  character 
by  an  invariable  roughness,  and  often  attempting  to  pro 
duce  effect  by  a  grimacing  and  bullying  altogether  inap 
propriate.  But  Cooke  also  excelled  Macklin  in  his  dialect, 
having  caught  it  while  strolling  through  Scotland,  while 
Macklin  only  obtained  his  (as  he  himself  informed  me) 
from  his  Scotch  schoolmaster  in  Dublin.  While  still  un 
der  the  sway  of  his  ferule  the  young  "  McLaughlin  "  used 
to  entertain  the  other  boys  by  imitating  the  tone  and 
manner  of  this  worthy  pedagogue,  whenever  he  made  a 
short  exit  from  the  schoolroom.  A  little  story  is  con 
nected  with  this  fact.  The  master,  who  was  a  strict  dis 
ciplinarian,  had  a  favorite  expression  whenever  the  boys 
pressed  upon  him  too  urgently  with  their  lessons  or  copies, 
being  accustomed  to  restrain  their  impatience  with,  "  Bide 
a  beet,  bide  a  beet;  I'm  nae  prepared,"  a  phrase  which 
he  drawled  out  in  a  tone  peculiar  to  himself.  One  day, 
having  quitted  the  school  to  seek  something  in  his  bed 
room,  just  overhead,  Macklin  stole  to  his  seat,  threw  the 
morning-gown  he  had  left  there  over  his  own  shoulders, 
put  on  his  spectacles,  and,  opening  a  book,  began  to  mimic 
his  manner  of  hearing  a  lesson.  This  exhibition  all  the 
scholars  enjoyed  heartily,  and  Macklin,  imagining  he 
should  be  sure  to  hear  the  master  leave  his  room  up-stairs, 
went  on  in  perfect  security.  The  cunning  magistert  how 
ever,  was  too  sapient  for  him,  for,  suspecting  something 
of  the  sort,  he  quitted  his  apartment  softly,  and  stole 
down-stairs  where,  the  schoolroom  door  being  ajar,  he 
could,  undiscovered,  watch  Macklin  in  the  height  of  his 
performance  and  hear  all  the  pupils  manifesting  their 
admiration  of  it.  Unluckily,  he  was  provided  with  a  pair 
of  very  long  legs,  and  all  at  once,  making  two  rapid  strides 
into  the  room  and  up  to  his  desk,  he  seized  the  budding 
actor  by  the  shoulder  with  the  grip  of  a  vise,  and,  grasp 
ing  a  ruler  in  his  other  hand,  brandished  it  aloft,  exclaim- 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  371 

ing, "  Ye  daumned  scoondrel,  shall  I  brak  ev'ry  boone  in 
your  boody  ?"  Without  shrinking  in  the  least,  or  chang 
ing  his  position,  Macklin  coolly  looked  up  into  his  face 
and  replied,  "  Bide  a  beet,  mon,  bide  a  beet,  I'm  nae  pre 
pared."  His  extreme  composure  enhanced  the  humor  of 
the  mimicry  so  completely  as  to  overpower  the  dominie's 
wrath.  With  a  shake  of  the  head  and  an  ill-suppressed 
smile  his  arm  dropped  powerless  by  his  side,  and  Macklin 
was  suffered  to  disrobe  himself  and  go  back  to  his  seat 
with  no  further  punishment  for  his  impertinence  than  a 
kick  from  behind  as  he  retreated. 

But  to  return  to  Cooke:  at  our  first  interview  his  man 
ner  was  perfectly  unconstrained ;  "  Mr.  John  Bernard," 
he  exclaimed,  "  or  Honest  Jack  Bernard,  as  they  call  you 
on  the  other  side  of  the  water,  how  do  you  do?  I've 
known  you  these  thirty  years,  though  we  have  never  met 
before.  You've  heard  of  George  Cooke,  too,  I  dare  say. 
I  wonder  who  didn't  know  me.  Black  Jack  [Kemble] 
used  to  say  that  I  was  as  well  known  wherever  I  went  as 
the  town  crier  or  the  parish  beadle."  Put  thus  at  once 
upon  familiar  terms,  I  took  him  home  with  me  to  dinner, 
and,  during  his  stay,  catered  for  his  amusement  as  much 
as  lay  in  my  power. 

That  he  did  not  always  show  himself  so  genial,  we  soon 
had  a  proof.  He  had  put  up  at  the  Exchange  Coffee 
house,  in  Boston,  and  here  a  Mr.  Rennie,  a  Scotch  ventril 
oquist,  was  also  staying  for  a  few  days.  It  had  happened, 
many  years  before,  that  in  some  country  town  in  England 
where  Cooke  was  performing,  this  Rennie  had  been  thrown 
into  prison  for  debt,  under  very  distressing  circumstances. 
His  situation  was  spoken  of  all  over  the  town,  and  partic 
ularly  in  the  green-room.  Cooke,  whose  benefit  was  just 
at  hand,  inquired  the  amount  of  the  debt,  and  learned 
that  it  was  £40.  The  benefit  yielding  him  just  the  sum 
required,  he  went  without  hesitation  to  Rennie's  lodgings, 


372  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

threw  the  whole  into  the  lap  of  his  weeping  wife,  and  told 
her  to  go  and  get  her  husband  liberated ;  then,  with  a 
bundle  on  his  back,  and  only  a  few  shillings  in  his  pocket, 
he  set  off  on  foot  for  the  company's  next  town,  a  distance 
of  thirty  miles.  One  act  like  this  might  indeed  atone  for 
years  of  imprudences !  But  there  was  a  sequel  to  the 
story  and  a  curious  one.  Rennie,  of  course,  never  forgot 
such  generosity,  and  now  they  were  once  more  thrown 
together,  when  his  circumstances  had  undergone  a  great 
change;  he  resolved  to  express  his  sense  of  it  in  a  manner 
which  he  thought  would  be  no  less  agreeable  to  his  bene 
factor  than  satisfactory  to  his  own  feelings.  Hearing  that 
Cooke  was  to  have  a  large  party  to  dine  with  him,  he 
learned  from  the  waiter  where  the  entertainment  was  to 
take  place,  and  resolved  to  enter  the  room  unceremo 
niously,  relate  to  the  assembled  company  the  whole  affair, 
and  then,  in  their  presence,  return  the  £40  to  Cooke  with 
his  thanks  for  the  loan  of  it.  Unfortunately,  on  carrying 
his  design  into  effect,  the  eccentricity  of  the  actor  showed 
itself  in  a  manner  more  astonishing  than  had  been  even 
his  benevolence.  He  shook  his  head  frowningly,  dis 
claimed  all  knowledge  of  the  circumstances,  refused  to 
touch  the  money,  and  telling  the  company  that  Rennie 
was  an  impostor,  finally,  in  rather  harsh  terms,  ordered 
him  to  quit  the  room,  since  he  had  entered  it  without  an 
introduction. 

The  eccentricity  of  character  which  throughout  life 
distinguished  him  led  on  many  occasions  to  very  amus 
ing  scenes.  I  remember  going  with  him  to  Mr.  F.  C. 
Amory's  to  meet  a  large  party.  The  portrait  of  John 
Kemble,  in  Rolla,  hung  over  the  mantelpiece,  and,  being 
pointed  out  to  him,  with  the  inquiry  whether  he  thought 
it  a  good  likeness — "  Yes,"  replied  he,  "  it  is  a  great  like 
ness,  sir,  of  a  very  great  man;  but,  great  as  he  was  "  (here 
he  rose  from  his  seat  with  an  affectation  of  dignity,  and 


RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA.  373 

paused) — "great  as  he  was"  (then  clinched  his  fist  and 
shook  it  at  the  picture  as,  with  a  smile,  he  broke  into  this 
comical  apostrophe) — "You  rascal!  I  made  you  shake  in 
your  shoes  many  a  time !"  A  roar  of  laughter  burst  from 
every  one  present  as  Cooke,  with  burlesque  importance, 
resumed  his  chair.  Another  evening,  at  Graupner's  (the 
musician  and  music-seller),  a  little,  talkative  man,  who 
was  our  musical  leader  at  the  theatre,  had  contrived  to 
squeeze  into  the  party,  and  annoyed  George  exceedingly, 
not  only  by  the  infinity  of  nothings  to  which  he  gave 
vent,  but  by  their  being  exclusively  addressed  to  himself. 
At  first  he  was  inattentive,  then  turned  his  back  on  the 
musician,  then  moved  from  his  chair;  but  the  fiddler's 
good-humor  was  as  indefatigable  as  his  tongue,  and  he 
followed  the  actor  up  all  round  the  room  until  he  actually 
penned  him  into  a  corner,  whence  he  could  not  escape. 
Cooke  had  been  in  the  best  of  humors  during  the  first 
part  of  the  evening,  but  his  complacency  was  beginning 
to  ooze  away  more  and  more  at  the  fiddler's  pertinacious 
advances.  Instead,  however,  of  expressing  his  dissatis 
faction  at  once,  he  let  it  go  on  fermenting  in  his  own 
breast,  while  he  meditated  some  mode  of  punishing  his 
persecutor.  The  latter,  having  now  completely  secured 
his  victim,  seized  what  he  thought  this  favorable  oppor 
tunity  to  gain  Cooke's  attention  by  playing  his  last  and 
most  effective  card.  "  Mr.  Cooke,  Mr.  Cooke,"  said  he, 
"  do  you  know,  Mr.  Cooke,  that  it  is  a  fact,  which  I  dare 
say  you  do  not  know,  that  your  first  wife,  Mr.  Cooke, 
was  my  pupil?"  "Your  pupil!"  "My  pupil,  indeed. 
It's  a  fact,  Mr.  Cooke,  upon  my  honor."  "Oh,  then," 
rejoined  the  wag  (as  he  eyed  the  elated  musician  with 
peculiar  significance),  "then,  for  the  first  time,  you  have 
given  me  the  reason  why  that  poor  creature  was  such  an 
infernal  ninny !"  This  produced  a  loud  laugh  from  the 
company,  while  the  musician  looked  as  much  mortified 


374  RETROSPECTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

as  surprised.  "And  now,  sir,"  added  Cooke,  in  a  very 
stern  tone — "and  now,  sir,  will  you  let  me  come  out?" 
"  Come  out,  Mr.  Cooke  ?"  "  Yes,  sir,  come  out.  Don't 
you  see  that  you  have  cribbed  me  up  in  this  hole  for  the 
last  half-hour,  till  I'm  as  flat  as  your  own  fiddle-case.  The 
musician  rose  in  some  consternation.  "  Hark  ye,  sir," 
continued  Cooke,  with  increasing  severity  in  his  tone  and 
sternness  in  the  expression  of  his  eye,  "I  have  done  you 
a  favor  in  listening  so  long  to  your  fiddle-de-dee,  and 
suffering  a  wretched  strummer  of  catgut  to  converse  with 
a  tragedian  of  the  stamp  of  George  Frederick  Cooke  ; 
now,  sir,  will  you  do  me  a  favor  in  return  ?"  "  Any 
thing  in  my  power,  Mr.  Cooke,"  was  the  trembling  reply. 
"  Well,  sir,  you  have  chased  me  all  round  the  room  in 
your  chair,  now  be  kind  enough  to  turn  round  and  let  me 
chase  you."  "  Sir  ?"  "  In  this  way,  do  you  see  ?"  said  the 
actor,  and,  turning  round  in  his  chair,  he  threw  his  leg 
across  it  and  galloped  it  towards  the  fiddler  as  though 
he  had  been  on  horseback. 

The  laughter  that  now  rang  through  the  room  was  con 
vulsive.  The  poor  little  fiddler  started  up  in  the  greatest 
fright,  ran  to  a  side-table  for  his  hat,  and  precipitately 
rushed  from  the  room  and  down-stairs  out  of  the  house, 
Cooke  galloping  his  chair  after  him  right  across  the  floor, 
and  putting  his  head  out  into  the  passage  to  listen  to  his 
retreat.  When  he  heard  the  street  door  close,  he  turned 
round  with  a  roguish  chuckle,  exclaiming,  "  I've  expelled 
him  !  Richard's  himself  again  !"  This  was  altogether 
one  of  the  funniest  scenes  I  ever  witnessed. 


JOHN  HOWARD   PAYNE   AS  YOUNG  NORVAL. 
From  a  raintins  bv  Leslie. 


INDEX. 


Abercrombie,  Sir  Ralph,  97. 

Abington,  Mrs.,  285-6. 

Adams,  John,  31,  97,  99,  123,  233,  240, 
242-3. 

Adams,  Samuel,  31. 

Albemarle,  Lord,  110. 

Alexander,  Hon.  William  (Lord  Ster 
ling),  112-13. 

Allen,  A.,  296. 

Allen,  Dr.,  328-9. 

Allen,  Ethan,  114-15. 

Allyn,  Mr.  (actor),  270. 

Amory,  F.  C.,  312, 372. 

Andre,  Major,  106. 

Anne,  Queen,  161. 

Arnold,  Benedict,  60,  95, 105-7,  236. 

Arnold,  Elizabeth  $  see  Mrs.  Poe. 

Arnott,  Mr.  (manager),  176. 

Ashbury,  Mrs.  (Eliza  Plucide,  Mrs. 
Mann),  202  note. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  2,  138-9. 

Bannister,  John,  116,  268,  286. 

Barrett,  George  H.,  341  note. 

Barrett,  Giles  L.,  264-5, 336 ;  biograph 
ical  sketch,  341  note. 

Barrett,  Mrs.  Giles  L.,  264. 

Barry,  Spranger,  268, 367. 

Bartley,  George,  275. 

Bates/William,  121-2,  336-7. 

Benezet,  Anthony,  64,  66. 

Bensley,  William,  369. 

Bentley,  Richard,  vi. 

Berkeley,  Sir  William,  163-4. 

Bernard,  John,  iii-vii. 

Bernard,  Mrs.  John  (Miss  Cooper),  iii, 
iv. 

Bernard,  Mrs.  John  (Miss  Fisher),  iv, 
117,  168. 

Bernard,  Mrs.  John  (Miss  Wright),  iv, 


v,  33,  276,  282-3,  302,  307,  311,  313, 

327,  356,  361-2. 
Bernard,  Sir  Francis,  iii,  v. 
Bernard, William  Bay le,vi,vii,  308  note. 
Bernard,  Mrs.  William  Bayle,  vii. 
Betterton,  Thomas,  367. 
Blake,  Mrs.  William  Rufus   (Caroline 

Placide,  Mrs.  Waring),  202  note. 
Blisset,  Francis,  116,  264,  268. 
Boker,  Miss  (Mrs.  Robert  Treat  Paine, 

Jr.),  300  note. 
Bolingbroke,  St.  John,  238. 
Bonaparte,  Mme.  Patterson,  123. 
Booth,  Barton,  367. 
Bowles,  Robert,  277-82. 
Brett,  Mrs.,  264. 
Broadhurst,  Miss,  264. 
Brown,  Charles  Brockden,  190,  350-5. 
Brown,  Nicholas,  225. 
Bruce,  James,  18. 
Brunton  (Mrs.  Wignell,  Mrs.  Warren) ; 

see  Mrs.  Merry. 
Buchan,  Dr.  William,  325. 
Buckingham,  Duke  of,  74. 
Buffon,  George  le  Clerc,  224. 
Burgoyne,  Gen.,  59,  60, 105. 
Burke,  Edmund,  7,  99. 
Burleigh,  Lord,  122. 
Burney,  Frances  (Mme.  d'Arblay),  365. 
Burroughs,  Mrs.,  358-9. 
Butler,  Mrs.  P.  (Frances  Ann  Kemble), 

191  note. 

Byrne,  Oscar,  123,  228-31. 
Byrne,  Mrs.  Oscar,  229. 

Cresar,  Julius,  89. 
Canning,  Mrs.,  142-3. 
Carlton,  Sir  Guy,  115. 
Carroll,  Charles  (of  Carrollton),  v,  85, 
86,  190. 


376 


INDEX. 


Carter  &  Ilendee,  vi. 

Cartwright,  Mr.  (actor),  277,  281-2. 

Catherine  of  England,  121. 

Catherine  of  Russia,  281. 

Caton,  Miss  (Marchioness  of  Wellesley), 
123. 

Caulfield,Mr.  (manager  and  actor),  282, 
285 ;  biographical  sketch,  286  note, 
293-6,  300,  302,  305-7,  308, 309,  332, 
336. 

Caulfield,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Skin),  296. 

Cervantes,  75. 

Chalmers,  Mr.  [         -1806],  264,  268. 

Charles  I.,  7,  30,  72,  99-100,  138. 

Charles  II.,  2,  5,  7. 

Charlotte,  Queen,  355. 

Chastelluz,  Marquis,  96. 

Cherry,  Andrew,  276,  277. 

Chesterfield,  Lord,  20. 

Cicero,  74,  75. 

Cipriani,  Mr.  (clown),  276,  282. 

Clay,  Henry,  189. 

Clay,  Mr.  (manager),  176, 181. 

Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  99,  106-7. 

Colburn,  Henry,  vi. 

Cole  man,  William,  315. 

Conde,  Prince  of,  79-80. 

Cooke,  George  Frederick,  162,  268,  317 
note;  biographical  sketch,  364  note; 
366-74. 

Cooper,  Miss  (Mrs.  John  Bernard),  iii, 
iv. 

Cooper,  Priscilla  (Mrs.  Tyler),  164  note. 

Cooper,  Thomas  Abthorpe,  116;  bio 
graphical  sketch,  164  note;  164-8, 
171-2, 174, 191,  264,  267-8,  293, 313, 
315,336,341,364. 

Cornwallis,  Gen.,  104, 127. 

Cowper,  William,  340. 

Craig,  Sir  James,  362-3, 

Crawford,  Gov.,  314,  329. 

Cromwell,  Mr.  (actor),  308-10,  312. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  7, 72. 

Crooke,  Mrs.  (Miss  Elizabeth,  Mrs. 
Mason) ;  see  Mrs.  Entwistle. 

Cumberland,  Richard,  262. 

D'Alembert.  John  Le  R.,  82. 
D'Arblay,  Mmc.  (Frances  Burney),  365. 
D'Artois,  Count,  236. 
Darley,  Felix  O.  C.,  331  note. 
Darley,  John  (Sr.),  biographical  sketch, 

331  note,  340. 
Darley,  John  (Jr.),  331  note. 


Darley,  Mrs.  John.  Jr.  (Ellen  Westray), 

314, 331  note. 

Darley,  Matthew,  331  note. 
Davidson,  Dr.,  359-62. 
Davidson,  Gen.  William,  85. 
Dawson,  Hon.  Mr.,  165. 
Dean,  Julia,  364  note. 
De  Glaubeck,  Baron,  96. 
D'Holbach,  Paul  Theri,  82. 
Dickinson,  Mr.  (Powell  &  Dickinson), 

264,  266,  272;  biographical  sketch, 

317  note;  318,326,343,364. 
Dickinson,  Mrs.  (Miss  Harrison),  317 

note. 

Digges,  Sir  Dudley,  7. 
Dillon,  Count,  215. 
Douglas,  David,  270. 
Dowton,  W.,  268. 
Drake,  Samuel,   biographical   sketch, 

364  note. 

Dryden,  John,  167. 
Duff,   John,    317   note ;    biographical 

sketch,  365-6  note. 
Duff,  Mrs.  John  (Mary  Ann  Dyke),  317 

note;  biographical  sketch, 365-6  note. 
Dunlap,  William,  62  note,  259. 
Dunmore,  Lord,  127. 
Dwyer,  Mr.,  biographical  sketch,  364-5 

note. 

Edwin,  John,  265. 

Edwin,  Mrs.,  275. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  79,  269. 

Emery,  John,  276. 

Entwistle,  Mr.,  biographical  sketch,  366 

note. 
Entwistle,  Mrs.  (Miss  Elizabeth,  Mrs. 

Mason,  Mrs.  Crooke),  366  note. 
Essex,  Earl  of,  7. 

Faba,  Jerome,  79. 

Fabius,  93. 

Fantoccini,  129. 

Farquhar,  George,  262. 

Farren,  Elizabeth  (Countess  of  Derby), 
285-6. 

Fenelon,  72. 

Fennell,  James,  73-7 ;  biographical 
sketch,  73  note ;  196-7,  264, 267,  292- 
3,  296-8,  300,  312,  337,  341. 

Fisher,  Mr.  (manager),  281. 

Fisher,  Miss  (Mrs.  John  Bernard),  iv. 

Fontenelle,  Miss  (Mrs.  J.  B.  William 
son),  256,  264,  265. 


INDEX. 


377 


Foote,  Samuel,  27. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  iv,  v,  104. 

Fox,  George,  173. 

Fox,  Mr.  (actor),  116, 121-2. 

Francis  I.,  79. 

Francis,  William,  116,  122,  264,  268. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  77-83,  90,  92,  99, 

112,  140,  162,  234. 
Frederick  the  Great,  109, 113,  234. 

Gannett,  Deborah  ("  Robert  Slmrtliff"), 

244. 
Garrick,  David,  32  note,  256,  265,  268, 

318,  364  note,  367,  368,  369. 
Gates,  Gen.  Horatio,  59  94,  95, 105. 
George  III.,  23,  92. 
George,  Miss  (Mrs.  Oldmixon),  116. 
Gifford,  William,  49  note. 
Gillingham,  Mr.,  116, 118-22. 
Gillingham,  Mrs.,  116,  118-22. 
Gilpin,  John,  340. 
Girdlestone,  Thomas,  9if. 
Glaubeck,  Baron  de,  215. 
Godwin,  William,  164  note,  250,  267. 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  262,  325. 
Graupner,  Mr.,  373. 
Graupner,  Mrs.  (Miss  Heelyer),  318. 
Greene,  Gen.  Nathaniel,  64,  66,  95,  98, 

103-5,  107,  111,213,215,245. 
Greene,  Mr.  [         -1816],  315,  336. 
Greene,  Mrs.  (Miss  Wlllems),  264. 
Grimm,  Frederick  Melchoir,  82. 

Hackett,  James  H.,  vi. 

Hallam,  Isabella  (Mrs.  Mattocks),  116, 

268. 

Hallam,  Lewis  (eldest),  258,  259. 
Hallam,  Lewis  [1740-1808  J,  264, 265-6, 

269-71. 
Hallam,  Mrs.  Lewis,  Jr.  (Mrs.  Douglas), 

264,271. 

Hancock,  John,  31. 
Hanger,  Major,  211-15. 
Harcourt,  Col.  William,  95,  98. 
Hardinge,  Mr.,  264. 
Hardinge,  Mrs.,  264. 
Harper,  Mr.  [         -1813],  264,  265. 
Harper,  Mrs.,  264. 
Harris,  Mr.  (manager),  74,  75, 142,  275, 

312. 
Harwood,  John  E.,  116,  264,  268,  286, 

314,  315. 

Hatton,  John,  221,  282,  311. 
Hawley,  Sir  John,  7. 


Heckewelder,  Rev.  John,  37. 
Henderson,  John,  iv,  256,  268,  367. 
1 1  enry ,  Job  p,  258L  259, _  265^ 
Herbert,  Mr.  (actor),  135-7. 
Hill,  G.  H.  («  Yankee  Hill "),  vi. 
Hodgkinson,   John,    26 ;    biographical 

sketch,  26  note;    27,  28,   29,   256, 

257-8,  259,  263,  264,  265,  266,  267, 

367. 
Hodgkinson,  Mrs.  John  (Mrs.  Brett), 

266. 

Hodgson,  Mr.,  117. 
Hogarth,  William,  57. 
Holcroft,  Thomas,  164  note. 
Holland,  John  Joseph,  261. 
Homer,  76. 

Howard,  Chancellor,  85. 
Howard,  John,  66. 
Howe,  Gen.,  58,  59,  60,  106,  112, 113. 
Hume,  David,  99. 
Humphreys,  Col.  David,  93, 103,  286-7, 

342. 

Incledon,  Benjamin  Charles,  276,  331 

note. 

Ireland,  Joseph  N.,  61,  366  note. 
Irving,  Washington,  315. 

James  I.,  3,  4. 

Jefferson,  Joseph  [1774-1832],  71,  264, 

266. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  v,  92, 93, 123, 176-7, 

187, 190,  232-43,  325. 
Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  74, 181,  253. 
Johnson,  H.,  275-6. 
Johnson,  Mrs.  H.,  275-6. 
Johnson,  John  [1759-1819],  264,  266. 
Johnson,  Mrs.  John  [        -1830],  264, 

266. 

Johnston,  Henry,  287. 
Jones,  Mr.  [         -1806],  264,  265. 
Jones,  Mrs.  (Miss  Granger),  264,  292. 
Jordan,  Mrs.  Dora,  256,  268,  292. 

Kean,  Edmund,  364  note. 

Kelly,  Judge,  64,  85,  329. 

Kemble,  Elizabeth ;  see  Mrs.  White- 
lock. 

Kemble,  Frances  Ann  (Mrs.  P.  Butler), 
191  note. 

Kemble,  John  Philip,  iv,  267,  268,  277, 
286,  364  note,  367,  369,  371,  372. 

Kent,  Duke  of,  296. 

Kosciusko,  96,  115. 


378 


INDEX, 


Lafalle,  Mrs. ;  see  Mrs.  Alexander  Pla- 

cide. 

Lafayette,  Marquis  of,  96,  97, 107-9. 
Lauzun,  Duke  of,  233. 
Lee,  Gen.  Charles,  59,  94,  95,  96-103, 

105,  109, 172-3. 
Lestrange,  Mrs.,  264. 
Lewis,  Monk,  277. 
Lewis,  William,  265. 
Lincoln,  Gen.  Benjamin,  61,  96, 115. 
Linnaeus,  Carl,  158, 174. 
Locke,  John,  78. 
Loring,  Mrs.,  60. 
Louis  XVL,  102. 

Loutherbourg,  Philippe  Jacques,  69. 
Lowell,  James  Russell,  v. 
Lyman,  Gen.  Phineas,  110. 

Mackenzie,  D.,  264. 

Macklin,  Charles,  367,  368,  369,  370-1. 

Macready,  William,  276. 

Madog,  Prince,  118. 

Mallet,  Mons.,  301,  318-19. 

Mann,  Mrs.  Sheridan  (Mrs.  Ashbury)  j 

see  Eliza  Placide. 
Marius,  76. 

Marshall,  G.,  116, 121-2,  264. 
Marshall,  Mrs.  G.  (Miss  Hardinge,  Mrs. 

Clarke),  264,  268. 
Martin,  John,  264,  266. 
Mason,   Mrs.   (Miss   Elizabeth,    Mrs. 

Crooke) ;  see  Mrs.  Entwistle. 
Mather,  Cotton,  4. 
Mattocks,  Mrs.  (Isabella  Hallam),  116, 

268. 

McKnight,  Capr,,  117,  118-20. 
Melmoth,  Courtney  (Samuel  Jackson 

Pratt),  266. 
Melmoth,  Mrs.  Courtney  (Mrs.  Pratt), 

264,  266. 
Merry,   Robert,   49-50;    biographical 

sketch,  49  note;  57,  61,  71,  72,  72 

note,  124, 138, 141-5,  256. 
Merry,  Mrs.  Robert    (Miss   Brunton, 

Mrs.  Wignell,  Mrs.  William  Warren), 

32  note,  49  note ;  biographical  sketch, 

72  note;  142-3, 145,  264,  268-9,  312, 

336. 

Milbourne,  Mr.  (artist),  261. 
Mills,   Mr.    (actor),  331-2,  336;    bio 
graphical  sketch,  353  note;  356,363. 
Mills,  Mrs.  Eliza,  332,  340,  353  note, 

354. 
Mkabeau,  75,  233,  235,  236. 


Montgomery,  Gen.  Richard,  94,  95,  96, 

115. 

Moore,  Mr.  (actor),  318. 
Moore,  Mrs. ;  see  Mrs.  Woodham. 
Moore,  Mrs.  Thomas  (Miss  Dyke),  366. 
Morris,     Owen,     61-2 ;     biographical 

sketch,  61-2  note ;  135, 219,  269-71. 
Morris,  Mrs.  Owen,  62,  271. 
Morse,  Mr.  [1784-         ],  337. 
Morton,  Mr.  (actor),  264,  268. 
Morton,  Mrs.  (Sarah  Wentworth  Ap- 

thorp),  296. 

Mossop,  Henry,  367,  368. 
Mottle,  Col.,  200. 
Murray,  Lindley,  325. 

Nash,  Gen.  Francis,  115. 
Necker,  Jacques,  233,  235. 
Neith,Mr.,172. 
North,  Lord,  100. 

O'Donnell,  Mr.,  138-40. 

Oldmixon,  Mrs.  (Miss  George),  116, 

264, 268. 

Oldmixon,  Sir  John,  69, 116. 
O'Keefe,  John,  256,  262. 
O'Neill,  Eliza,  iv. 
Otis,  James,  31. 
Oxford,  Earl  of,  7. 

Paine,  Robert  Treat,  300  note. 

Paine,  Robert  Treat,  Jr.,  292;  bio 
graphical  sketch,  300-1  note,  341, 
365. 

Paine,  Mrs.  Eobert  Treat,  Jr.  (Miss  Bo- 
ker),300  note. 

Paine,  Thomas,  97,  301  note. 

Palmer,  John,  74,  369. 

Patterson,  Miss  (Mrs.  Jerome  Bona 
parte),  123. 

Payne,  John  Howard,  biographical 
sketch,  339  note,  341,  343. 

Penn,  William,  63,  64,  65,  66. 

Perrot,  Sir  John,  7. 

Pinkney,  Hon.  Mr.,  329. 

Pitt,  William,  75. 

Placide,  Alexander,  biographical 
sketch,  202  note;  264,310. 

Placide,  Mrs.  Alexander  (Mrs.  Lafalle), 
264. 

Placide,  Caroline  (Mrs.  Waring,  Mrs. 
Blake),  202  note. 

Placide,  Eliza  (Mrs.  Ashbury,  Mrs. 
Mann),  202  note. 


INDEX. 


379 


Placide,  Henry,  202  note. 

Placide,  Jane,*202  note. 

Placide,  Thomas,  202  note. 

Pocahontas,  159-62. 

Poe,  David,  Jr.,  biographical  sketch, 
296  note. 

Poe,  Mrs.  David,  Jr.  (Elizabeth  Ar 
nold),  biographical  sketch,  296  note. 

Poe,  Edgar  Allen,  296  note. 

Poole,  Miss  (actress),  364. 

Pope,  Alexander,  238. 

Powell,  Charles  Stuart,  264. 

Powell,  Mrs.  Charles  Stuart,  264,  266, 
272, 291,  296. 

Powell,  Snelling,  309;  biographical 
sketch,  317  note;  317-19,  326,  364. 

Powell,  Mrs.  Snelling  (Elizabeth  Har 
rison),  264,  266,  317  note,  318. 

Powhatan,  162. 

Pratt,  Samuel  Jackson  (Courtney  Mel- 
moth),  266. 

Pratt,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Courtney  Melmoth), 
264,  266. 

Prideaux,  Dr,  Humphrey,  63. 

Priestley,  Dr.  Joseph,  238. 

1  'rigmore,  Mr.  (actor),  264. 

Pulaski,  Count,  96. 

Putnam,  Gen.  Israel,  96, 110-15. 

Pye,  Col.,  362, 363. 

Qualch,  Mr.  (actor),  271. 
Quick,  John,  276-7. 
Quincy,  Josiah,  31. 
Quinn,  James,  27,  71,  265,  367. 

Rae,  Mr.  (manager),  275. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  2-3. 

Ramsay,  David,  181. 

Raphael,  78. 

Rawdon,  Lord,  104,  211, 214. 

Raynal,  Abbe,  91. 

Reddish,  Samuel,  369. 

Reinagle,  Mr.  (manager),  259. 

Rennie,  Mr.  (ventriloquist),  371-2. 

Rich,  Richard,  7. 

Richards,  J.,  261. 

Robertson,  Dr.  William,  185. 

Robertson,  William  (actor),  332. 

Rogers,  Francis,  278-81. 

Rolfe,  Thomas,  161. 

Rousseau,  J.  J.,  253. 

Rowson,  William,  biographical  sketch, 

365  note. 
Rowson,  Mrs.  William,  365  note. 


Rush,  Benjamin,  239. 
Rutledge,  Edward,  97. 

Sandys,  Sir  Edwin,  7. 

Savigny,  Mme.,  79. 

Schuyler,  Gen.  Philip,  96. 

Selden,  John,  7. 

Selwyn,  George,  iv. 

Sewell,  Judge,  355,  363. 

Shakespeare,  27,  55,  72,  74,  77,  78, 163, 

167,  238,  257,  262,  263, 265,  268. 
Shaw,  Mr.  (actor),  298. 
Shaw,  Mrs.,  293. 
Sheaf,  Gen.,  296,  301, 312, 358. 
Sheridan,  Richard  Brinslev,  iv,  v,  74, 

262. 
Siddons,  Sarah,  190-1,  256,  269,  317 

note. 

Sieyes,  Abbe,  233. 
Silsbee,  Joshua  S.,  vi. 
Smith,  Capt.  John,  159-60. 
Smith,  William,  369. 
Smollet,  Tobias,  71. 
Solee,  Mr.  (manager),  264. 
Southampton,  Earl  of,  7. 
Stanley,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Twisleton),  276, 

282 ;  biographical  sketch,  284  note ; 

284-6,    293,    294,    295,    302,    336, 

338-9. 

Sterling,  Lord  (Hon.  William  Alexan 
der),  112-3. 
Sterne,  Lawrence,  263. 
Stone,  Gov.  John  II.,  85. 
Sullivan,  Gen.  John,  96,  112. 
Sullivan,  Gov.  James,  338. 
Swift,  Dean,  238. 

Talbot,  Montague,  275. 
Tarleton,  Col.,  104-5,  211-15. 
Teach  ("  Blackboard  "),  175. 
"Three-Fingered  Jack,"  135-7. 
Tomolomo,  162. 
Tompkins,  Col.,  124-5. 
Trajan,  89. 

Tubbs,  Mr.  (actor),  191-4. 
Turnbull,Mr.  (actor),  216. 
Twaits,  William,  312,  314. 
Twisleton,  Mrs. ;  see  Mrs.  Stanley. 
Tyler,  Pres.  John,  164  note. 
Tyler,  Joseph,  264,  266. 
Tyler,  Mrs.  Joseph,  264. 
Tyler,  Robert,  164  note. 
Tyler,   Mrs.   Robert;     see      Priscilla 
Cooper. 


380 


INDEX. 


Usher,  Luke,  292,  336;    biographical 

sketch,  354  note. 
Usher,  Mrs.  Luke,  292, 363. 

Vanhorn,  Col.,  60-1. 

Vestris,  Around,  68. 

Vigers,  Mr.  (actor),  282. 

Vining,  Mr.  (vocalist),  282,  286. 

Voltaire,  290. 

Von  Hagen,  Mr.  (musician),  301. 

Von  Kalb,  Baron,  96. 

Von  Steuben,  Baron,  94,  96, 109-10. 

Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  162. 

Walstcin,  Miss,  275. 

Waring,  Mrs.  Leigh  (Mrs.  William  R. 

Blake) ;  see  Caroline  Placide. 
Warrell,  Mr.  (actor),  264. 
Warren,  Dr.  Joseph,  31. 
Warren,  William   [1767-1832],  vi,  72 

note,  116, 144  note,  264,  268, 313, 345. 
Warren,  Mrs.  William  (Miss  Brunton, 

Mrs.  Wignell) ;  see  Mrs.  Merry. 
Washington,  George,  vi,  59,  60,  85-95, 

98,  99,  105,  107,  108,  110,  120,  122, 

141,  232,  236. 

Washington,  Mrs.  George,  88. 
Wayne,  Gen.  Anthony,  115. 
Webster,  Mr.  (vocalisV),  312.340. 
Wellesley,  Marchioness  of  (Miss  Ca- 

ton),  123. 

West,  Mrs.,  336,  339. 
Westray,  Ellen  (Mrs.  Darley),  331  note. 


Westray,  Juliana  (Mrs.  W.  B.  Wood), 

144  note. 

White,  William  Charles,  341,  365. 
Whitelock,  Mr.,  264. 
Whitelock,  Mrs.  (Elizabeth  Kemble), 

190-1;  biographical  sketch,  190-1 

note;  256,264. 
Wignell,  Thomas,  iv,  32 ;  biographical 

sketch,  32-3  note;  61,  72,  72  note, 

84,  116,  144  note,  164,  258-9,  261, 

264,  331  note. 
Wignell,  Mrs.  Thomas  (Miss  Brunton, 

Mrs.  Warren) ;  see  Mrs.  Merry. 
Williams,  Matthew,  231. 
Williamson,  J.  Brown,  256,  264. 
Williamson,  Mrs.  J.  Brown  (Miss  Fon- 

tenelle),  256,  264,  265. 
Witherspoon,  Mr.,  124-5. 
Wolfe,  Gen.  James,  234. 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  121. 
Wood,  William   B.,  33  note,  62  note, 

144;  biographical  sketch,  144  note. 
Wood,  Mrs.  W.  B.  (Juliana  Westray), 

144  note. 
Woodham,  Mr.,  biographical  sketch, 

345-6  note. 

Woodham,  Mrs.,  331,  336;  biograph 
ical  sketch,  345-6  note. 
Wools,  Stephen,  182-3. 
Wright,  Miss  (Mrs.  John  Bernard),  iv, 

v,  33,  276,  282-3,  302,  307,  313,  327, 

356,  361-2. 
Wroughton,  Mr.  (actor),  312. 


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of  the  old  times,  attractive  or  repulsive,  according  to  the  truth  as  he  finds 
it.  He  writes  without  apparent  prejudice,  and  tries  to  do  justice  to  all 
sections  and  peoples,  with  their  widely  differing  social  institutions  and 
political  creeds. — JV.  Y.  Journal  of  Commerce. 

This  "Short  History,"  it  may  safely  be  predicted,  will  become  a  stand 
ard  work.  It  certainly  ranks  with  Mr.  Green's  "Short  History  of  the 
English  People,"  and  the  author  has  earned  the  thanks  of  the  large  and 
constantly  increasing  class  of  intelligent  students  of  American  history 
who  desire,  in  addition  to  a  well-digested  compendium  of  information,  in 
dications  as  to  the  sources  from  which  that  information  is  derived.  The 
book  may  be  recommended  as  in  all  substantial  respects  better  worthy  of 
the  attention  of  serious  and  intelligent  readers  than  any  similar  piece  of 
work  yet  attempted  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic. — N.  Y.  World. 

Mr.  Lodge  evinces  throughout  his  interesting  volume  the  spirit  of  pa 
tient  and  thorough  investigation,  realizing  that  the  full  and  adequate  pos 
session  of  the  facts  in  the  case  leads  almost  infallibly  to  correct  inference, 
while  an  imperfect  acquaintance  with  them  will  betray  even  the  ablest 
intellects  into  absurd  and  pernicious  error.  A  volume  like  this  is  an  ex 
cellent  antidote  for  that  haste  in  reaching  conclusions,  and  that  ignorance 
in  clinging  to  them,  which  through  all  time  has  resulted  in  delusion,  big 
otry,  and  contention,  and  has  proved  an  immense  impediment  to  substan 
tial  progress. — N.  Y.  Times. 

It  is  a  successful  attempt  to  answer  in  a  compact  and  comprehensive 
form  the  questions  of  who  and  what  were  the  people  who  fought  the  Avar 
for  independence  and  founded  the  United  States,  and  what  their  life,  hab 
its,  thought,  and  manners.  This  scope,  it  will  be  seen,  takes  in  all  politi 
cal  and  personal  issues.  This  narrative  is  interesting  throughout,  and  an 
invaluable  service  has  been  rendered  each  of  the  original  States.  Only 
warm  commendation  can  be  offered  such  a  painstaking  task. — Boston 
Commonwealth. 


PUBLISHED  BY  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  NEW  YORK. 

\edSt,...- 

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